ELECTROCHEMICAL STUDIES OF KINETIC-PROPERTIES OF TITANIUM-HYDROGEN AND VANADIUM-HYDROGEN SYSTEMS AT INTERMEDIATE TEMPERATURES USING MOLTEN-SALT TECHNIQUES

A novel molten salt technique for studying hydrogen transport in Ti and V metals is described. The molten-salt electrolytes were eutectic mixtures of alkali halides dissolved with excess LiH, operating in temperature ranges typically above 300 degrees C, to which electrochemical techniques were difficult to apply conventionally. We used the molten salt technique to investigate the thermodynamic properties of the Ti-H system previously. In this work, we determined composition-dependent diffusion and permeation data of hydrogen in a and in binary hydride phases using a galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT). The results are in accordance with the best values reported by others using different techniques. We also reported some preliminary results regarding the kinetic properties of hydrogen in V and its hydride measured by more conventional time-lag and steady-state permeation techniques. The successful application of this molten salt technique in the metal hydrogen systems opened a new arena for potential applications in energy conversion and storage.