Diffusion of hydrogen in iron

Abstract

A mass spectrometer was used to study hydrogen diffusion and trapping phenomena in fullyannealed and slightly cold-worked pure iron specimens which were in contact with distilled water or dilute acidic Buffer solutions. In the case of fully-annealed iron and slightly coldworked iron, hydrogen can diffuse into iron only when the iron contacts water directly. This diffusion phenomenon of hydrogen increased markedly with temperature and was accelerated by abrasion and hydrogen ion concentration in dilute acid. Abrasion and hydrogen ions in a dilute acidic Buffer solution did not affect the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen,D, but increased the hydrogen concentration at the iron surface contacting water or Buffer solution,C s . The permeability of hydrogen in fully-annealed iron in contact with distilled water and the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen in fully-annealed and slightly cold-worked iron for the temperature range 10° to 100°C were measured. Trapping parameters in the slightly cold-worked iron were calculated.