9-13 July 2012
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
<a href="http://events.saip.org.za/internalPage.py?pageId=11&confId=14"><font color=#ff0000>SAIP2012 PROCEEDINGS AVAILABLE</font></a>

Characterization of the electrical properties of the Platinum-Palladium-Hydrogen system

10 Jul 2012, 17:30
2h
IT Building

IT Building

Poster Presentation Track A - Division for Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Poster Session

Speaker

Ms Claire Van den Berg (University of Cape Town (MSc student))

Level for award<br>&nbsp;(Hons, MSc, <br> &nbsp; PhD)?

Hons

Apply to be<br> consider for a student <br> &nbsp; award (Yes / No)?

Yes

Main supervisor (name and email)<br>and his / her institution

David T. Britton
David.Britton@uct.ac.za
Department of Physics, University of Cape Town

Would you like to <br> submit a short paper <br> for the Conference <br> Proceedings (Yes / No)?

No

Abstract content <br> &nbsp; (Max 300 words)

The electronic properties of the palladium-platinum-hydrogen system were characterized using variable field Hall effect measurements at room temperature. The Pd-Pt-H system was prepared by hydrogenating Pd-Pt alloy in an atmosphere consisting of a mixture of argon and hydrogen containing hydrogen at 15% at 110kPa at room temperature. Pd-Pt alloys of varying compositions were exposed to this atmosphere for various lengths of time under the same temperature and pressure conditions. For a fixed hydrogen exposure time, the specific resistivity decays with increasing platinum content. For a fixed platinum content, the specific resistivity increases with increasing exposure time. The explanation to this behavior is twofold: competitive formation of the β-phase hydride which exhibits a high intrinsic resistance compared to that of the α-phase solid solution, and the filling up of the conduction band of palladium by the valence electrons from the Pt. Palladium and its alloys have shown excellent hydrogen absorbing capabilities as well as resistance to surface oxidation. Understanding the influence of hydrogenation of palladium and its alloys is important in the design of hydrogen sensors for use in the nuclear, electronics and food industries.

Primary author

Ms Claire Van den Berg (University of Cape Town (MSc student))

Co-authors

Mr Batsirai Magunje (Department of Physics, University of Cape Town) Prof. David Britton (Department of Physics, University of Cape Town) Prof. Margit Hartting (Department of Physics, University of Cape Town) Dr Miroslava Topic (Materials Research Department, iThemba LABS)

Presentation Materials

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