JedRothwell
Jan 24th 2021
Frank Gordon and I are working on a how-to recipe for his experiment. As a first step, I will transfer the Speaker Notes to the Acrobat file that I uploaded. Adobe Acrobat is supposed to do this, but it does it wrong. (Adobe software is annoying!) Here is the second Speaker Note:
A lattice energy converter (LEC) is a complex device from many perspectives: physics, mathematics, electrical engineering, thermodynamics, and material science. Shown is a LEC cell connected to a DVM with a 10 MΩ internal impedance. The cell consists of a Pd working electrode codeposited from an aqueous (H2O) PdCl2 and LiCl solution. A brass counter electrode coaxially surrounds the working electrode and is positioned so that it is electrically isolated from the inner working electrode. The cell was evacuated after which hydrogen (1H2) gas was introduced into the cell, typically raising the absolute pressure to between approximately 500 to1500 Torr, and the valve is closed. The DVM was connected and a spontaneous voltage was measured. If no voltage had been measured, the cell would be disassembled and additional Pd codeposited onto the electrode and the cell then reassembled with new gas. Our experience is that if the cell doesn’t produce a spontaneous voltage on the first assembly it will after the second or third attempt. The voltage is typically highest when the DVM is initially connected and then drops to a nearly steady value determined by the load presented by the DVM’s input impedance. Over several days the voltage slowly may decline further. For the cell shown the voltage even declined to the point that the voltage changed polarity and the absolute value of the voltage started to increase. After several more days the voltage slowly returned to its initial polarity. We don’t fully understand what is happening but one possibility is that the difference in work function between the inner Pd-H electrode and the outer electrode is slowly changing.