Reaction Rates for the Formation of Deuterium Tritide from Deuterium and Tritium

The rates of formation of DT in a mixture of D₂ and T₂ have been measured as a function of initial T₂ concentration, pressure, temperature, and methane concentration in a stainless steel reaction container which had been treated to inhibit protium ingrowth. An attempt has been made to explain the experimental results on the basis of ion-molecule chain reactions. Some of the observations are consistent with a gas-phase ion, ground-state molecule reaction, but some of the more interesting observations require more complicated models. The addition of excited state molecules or heterogeneous catalytic effects are possibilities that will need further experiments for confirmation.