Anomalous effects during the interaction of subatmospheric D2 (H2) with Pd from 900 °C to room temperature

The interaction of subatmospheric (900 mbar) D2 or H2 with Pd sheet samples has been investigated isochorically, while the temperature was slowly decreasing from 900 to 20 ~ As predicted, maximum gas absorption has been observed below 100 ~ however the average D/Pd and H/Pd atomic ratios here achieved, 0.8-0.9, exceed literature provisions; furthermore anomalous metastable absorption (D/Pd -= 0.35) was tested in the range 500-200~ CR-39 charged-particle detectors after exposure to D-loaded sheets always revealed large number of tracks, whereas no emission was monitored from H-loaded samples: if the tracks have been due to D-D fusion fragments, the estimated average fusion rate is about 10 -19 fusion per couple of deuterons per second. Significant neutron count increase over background matching with D absorption was systematically observed, which fits with an average fusion rate ~ 10 -21 fusion per couple of deuterons per second; such datum however is made intriguing by a similar n-excess measured during H absorption.