Study of Deuterium Charging in Palladium by Electrolysis of Heavy Water

Two different polarization regimes have mainly been used during electrolytic deuterium loading of palladium cathodes to produce an excess of heat in “cold fusion” experiments. Most of the experimentalists apply a constant current density, while some prefer to work with a square-wave current. The different effects of the two techniques on the deuterium dynamics through the cathode are not yet very clear. Thus, a transport model supported by a computer code is used to describe the evolution of the deuterium concentration profile inside a palladium membrane cathode for both operating conditions.