Excess energy generation using a nano-sized multilayer metal composite and hydrogen gas

New type of excess heat experiments using a nano-sized metal multilayer composite and hydrogen gas have been performed based on the permeation-induced transmutation experiments with multilayer thin film and excess heat experiments with nano-particles. Two nano-sized metal multilayer composite samples, which were composed of Ni, Cu, CaO, Y₂O₃ thin films on bulk Ni (25 mm × 25 mm × 0.1 mm), were placed in a vacuum chamber. These samples were fabricated by Ar ion beam sputtering method. After baking of the samples, H₂ gas was introduced into the chamber up to about 230 Pa at 250^◦C. Then, the Ni based multilayer thin films started to absorb H₂ gas. Amount of absorbed H₂ gas can be evaluated by the pressure measurement of the chamber. Typically, after about 50,000 s, H₂ gas was evacuated and simultaneously the samples were heated up by the ceramic heater up to 500-900^◦C. The evacuation and heating process seem to trigger heat generation reactions. Heat burst phenomena were simultaneously detected by a radiation thermometer looking at the surface of the multilayer thin film and a thermocouple located near the metal composite. It shows that heat measurement by the thermocouple embedded in the ceramic heater correctly reflects surface temperature detected by the radiation thermometer. Excess energy generation using nano-sized multilayer Cu/Ni metal composite and Cu/Ni metal with third material (CaO, Y₂O₃) composite were presented. Maximum released excess energy reached 1.1 MJ and average released energy per absorbed total hydrogen was 16 keV/H or 1.5 GJ/H-mol. It cannot be explained by any known chemical process and suggests that the observed heat generation must be of nuclear origin. Various analysis methods, such as SEM-EDX or TOF-SIMS, had been applied to obtain information about what kind of reactions occur by the interaction of the nano-sized multilayer metal composite with hydrogen gas.