Detections of He-3 in Ni-based binary metal nanocomposites with Cu in zirconia exposed to hydrogen gas at elevated temperatures

Abstract

The present study aims to detect helium-3 in nickel-based metal nano-composites doped with zirconia, which exhibited anomalous heat generation when exposed to hydrogen gas at approximately 450{\deg}C. Two complementary analytical techniques were employed: Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) utilizing 1.4 MeV deuteron beams from a tandem accelerator, and Thermal Desorption Spectrometry (TDS) using a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Both methods successfully detected helium-3 in the samples. Given the extreme rarity of this isotope, its presence strongly suggests the occurrence of nuclear reactions within the nickel-containing materials. These findings lend support to the 4H/TSC (4 Hydrogen/Tetrahedral Symmetric Condensate) model, which uniquely predicts helium-3 as one of the primary reaction products.