Determination of diffusion coefficients of hydrogen and deuterium in Zr–2.5%Nb pressure tube material using hot vacuum extraction-quadrupole mass spectrometry

The diffusion coefficients of hydrogen and deuterium in Zr–2.5%Nb alloy were measured in the temperature range 523 to 673K, employing hot vacuum extraction-quadrupole mass spectrometry (HVE-QMS). One end of the Zr–2.5%Nb alloy specimens was charged electrolytically with the desired hydrogen isotope. After annealing at different temperatures for a predetermined time, the specimens were cut into thin slices, which were analyzed for their H2/D2 content using the HVE-QMS technique. The depth profile data were fitted into the equation representing the solution of Fick’s second law of diffusion. The activation energy of hydrogen/deuterium diffusion was obtained from the Arrhenius relation between the diffusion coefficient and temperature. The temperature dependent diffusion coefficient can be represented as DH=1.41×10−7 exp(−36,000/RT) and DD=6.16×10−8 exp(−35,262/RT) for hydrogen and deuterium, respectively.