Neutron activation analysis for investigating purity grade of copper, nickel and palladium thin films used in cold fusion experiments

In the last decades some scientific papers have been published on the study of nuclear transmutation reactions in condensed matter, in which the formation of new nuclear products was investigated. In this contest, a specific research activity based on electrolysis process has been developed at ENEA: each step has been analyzed and deeply investigated by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). The materials such as electrolysis equipment, electrolytic solutions, electrodes, etc. were preliminarily analyzed by INAA for identifying and reducing all the pollution sources. Several experiments were performed using films of copper, nickel and palladium as electrodes. At the end of each test, all the materials and the electrolytic solutions used and the blank as well were analyzed by INAA for checking and measuring the presence of nuclei originating from nuclear transmutations. INAA is in fact able to determine element content at a very low level, where other analytical techniques cannot reach with such precision and accuracy. The results obtained are strongly random demonstrating a phenomenon of apparent enrichment rather than the occurrence of transmutation phenomena in the condensed matter during the electrolysis.