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 LaCo5 and the paramagnetic LaNi5 compound as working materials. The deuterium concentration in the gas phase after hydrogen-absorbing reactions depended on applied magnetic fields for LaCo5, but not for LaNi5. 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 LaCo5-(H2+D2). The increase in α is related to the magnetic field effect on the equilibrium pressure in ferromagnetic metal hydrides.