On the possibility of deuteron disintegration in electrochemically compressed D⁺ in a palladium cathode

The possibility of deuteron disintegration due to polarization in the coulomb field of a target nucleus according to an Oppenheimer-Phillips process is discussed within the context of electrochemically compressed D⁺ in a palladium cathode. This reaction is possible between deuterons and palladium isotopes, as well as between the deuterons themselves. In the last case, the equivalent of the proton branch of the deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction occurs in preference to the neutron branch. The process provides a possible explanation for the observed energy release, tritium production, and neutron suppression in the Fleischmann and Pons experiment. If such a process can be experimentally verified, analogous processes leading to the disintegration of the ⁹Be nucleus may be achievable.