Detection Of Energetic Charged Particles During Electrolysis

By the use of Cr-39 particle track detectors immersed in the electrolyte, we confirm that a nuclear reaction of as-yet unknown nature can take place during electrolysis. With Li2SO4 dissolved in D2O or H2O and either Pd or Ni as cathodes, a very large statistical difference in nuclear track generation is found between detector chips immersed during electrolysis and the control chips immersed in similar solutions not subjected to electrolysis. The probability that the electrolysis tracks and the control tracks could have by chance arisen from a common population is 2.5 x 10-5, 1.2 x 10-6, and 5.8 x 10-4 for the systems Pd/D2O, Pd/H2O, and Ni/D2O, respectively. We conclude that there is a causal relationship between electrolysis and energetic charged particles and that neither Pd nor D2O is essential for the generation of a nuclear reaction. Some implications for theoretical considerations are presented.