Alan Goldwater - Nickel + Silver Amalgam + Flow Hydrogen Experiment

This series of experiments follows a suggestion by Jones Beene that “Type A” Palladium (an alloy of Pd and Ag) is known to be LENR-active, and that an alloy of Ni and Ag might have similar properties. Unfortunately, Ni and Ag are not mutually soluble when molten, and forming an alloy is thus very difficult if not impossible.

The first test proposes to form a nano-scale amalgam of Ni and Ag by extended ball-milling at room temperature. For this process, an inexpensive rock polishing tumbler was purchased

Fig 1: Tumbler available from Chicago electric, ~US$50 on Amazon
The grinding medium used is ten tungsten carbide bearing balls ⅜” in diameter. The hardness was checked with a carbide scribe, which could not mark the surface of the balls. This material typically contains a few percent of Cobalt and is thus slightly ferromagnetic. The grinding balls were therefore demagnetized prior to use.

Initial testing was done with small pieces of Ni foam, using a 4 oz plastic bottle. To promote agitation of the contents, a hose clamp was added and its position adjusted so as to cause random tumbling of the vial inside the rubber chamber of the machine.

Video 1: Tumbler and vial containing material being processed in action
This proved to be effective, with the Ni foam being reduced to ~5 micron particles after 50 hours of treatment.

Fig 2: Nickel foam before ball milling

Fig 3: Nickel foam after ball milling 50 hours

	A fresh vial was charged with a mixture by weight of 15 g Ni (GTI Chemical, 99.95%) and 5 g Ag (source unknown, 99.5%) powders. The vial was flushed with Argon for about 10 minutes, then closed and the port sealed with epoxy. After adjusting the hose clamp for proper tumbling, milling was started.

5 July 2017 After 100 hours, samples were removed for analysis.

Fig. 4: At the limit of the optical scope, particles as small as ~200 nm can be seen, though most are in the 1-5 um range
7 July 2017 After removing samples for analysis using an Argon glove bag, ten additional ¼” Tungsten Carbide balls were added, and the vial was resealed. A second milling cycle of 100 hours is underway, following which samples will again be taken for analysis.

Once adequate processing is seen, the experiment proposed by Jones Beene will be done. The plan is to expose the powder to flowing hydrogen at ambient temperature and pressure, while looking for low energy gamma/x-ray emission as an indicator of nuclear activity. Because the signal of interest is in the range of ~10 keV, a thin plastic tube will be used to contain the "fuel", maybe a soda straw. A LND7317 pancake Geiger-Muller tube sensitive to below 10 keV and a 6Li-I neutron scintillator will be located in contact with the tube, to maximize exposure angle and minimize absorption by air.

For more updates, look at the live document here