An investigation was made of the electromigration of H and D which were dissolved in 3N7-purity material. A Ni wire was connected between 2 volumes of gaseous H at identical pressures. When a direct current was passed through the wire, the resultant electrotransport resulted in a flow of H from one volume to the other. This was measured and used to deduce the effective charge on the dissolved H or D (table 106). In all cases, the interstitial solute migrated to the cathode. The charges in transport were positive, independent of, or slightly dependent upon, the temperature, and were markedly larger for the heavier isotope. These results were suggested to demonstrate a predominant momentum transfer between electron holes and the activated complex of the elementary diffusion mechanism.

R.A.Oriani, O.D.Gonzalez: Transactions of the Metallurgical Society of AIME, 1967, 239[7], 1041-6

Table 106

Electrotransport of H and D in Ni