Behavior of hydrogen in alpha-iron at lower temperatures

Abstract

Evidence is presented that the low temperature anomalies in the hydrogen occlusive behavior of alpha iron can be explained by means of a molecular occlusion theory. This theory proposes that the stable state of the absorbed hydrogen changes from atomic at high temperatures to molecular as the temperature is lowered below a critical value. Theories proposing to explain the anomalous behavior as being due to the capture, at lower temperatures, of hydrogen in traps are shown to be unacceptable