Magnetic field effects on the hydrogen isotope separation with metal hydrides

Hydrogen isotope separation experiments were conducted under the influence of magnetic field with the ferromagnetic LaCo 5 and the paramagnetic LaNi 5 compound as working materials. The deuterium concentration in the gas phase after hydrogen-absorbing reactions depended on applied magnetic fields for LaCo 5, but not for LaNi 5. The isotope separation factor α=(D/H) gas/(D/H) solid increased from 1.54 in zero field to 2.25 at 13 T in the β+γ region for the system LaCo 5–(H 2+D 2). The increase in α is related to the magnetic field effect on the equilibrium pressure in ferromagnetic metal hydrides.