Hydrogen diffusion in the Laves-phase compound TiCr1.78

The temperature dependence of the Young's modulus and of the internal friction (IF) has been investigated between 80 and 300 K at acoustical frequencies in the hexagonal (C14) Laves-phase TiCr1.78 charged with hydrogen. In this compound H occupies tetrahedral interstitial sites which are grouped in interlinked hexagons. A mechanical relaxation has been found at around 120 K (f = 5.4 kHz), which appears to be due to tunnelling transitions of delocalized H from one hexagon to the other. The rate of H absorption has been investigated at high temperature (660-1200 K) and the H diffusion coefficient has been derived from the pressure measurement as a function of time. A cumulative Arrhenius plot of IF and absorption diffusion data exhibits a non-exponential behaviour, which is due to a change in the diffusion mechanism from over-barrier hopping at high temperature to phonon-assisted tunnelling at low temperature.