There is some confusion in the new paper from the Google researchers, Berlinguette, C.P., et al., Revisiting the cold case of cold fusion. Nature, 2019
On p. 4 it says: "Over the course of 16 months, we evaluated contemporary claims of more than 10% excess heat production involving samples of nickel powder and lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH4)." They refer to these as Ni-H samples and they say they tested 420 samples, but they saw no excess heat.
Earlier in the paper, on p. 2 it says:
"Without the guidance of a generally accepted theory, our survey of the field led us to focus on the empirical investigation of three of its most prominent claims: (1) the claim that metal electrodes loaded with extraordinary amounts of hydrogen are a necessary precursor to cold fusion [39]; (2) the claim that metallic powders heated in a hydrogen environment produce excess heat [40]; and (3) the claim that pulsed plasma discharges produce tritium and other anomalous nuclear signatures [41]."
Reference 39 is McKubre, M. C. H. Cold fusion: comments on the state of scientific proof. Curr. Sci. 108, 495–498 (2015).
https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/108/04/0495.pdf
Reference 40 is Focardi, S., Habel, R. & Piantelli, F. Anomalous heat production in Ni-H systems. Nuovo Cim. A 107, 163–167 (1994). This is not about nickel metallic powders. It is about “a hydrogen-loaded nickel rod.” Solid nickel, not powder. Apparently Berlinguette et al. cited the wrong paper.
Reference 41 is Claytor, T. N., Jackson, D. D. & Tuggle, D. G. Tritium Production from a Low Voltage Deuterium Discharge on Palladium and Other Metals. https://doi.
org/10.2172/102234 (LANL, 1995). I think this is the same as:
https://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/ClaytorTNtritiumpro.pdf
So, who used nickel powder and lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH4)? Some people claimed that Focardi and Rossi used this. However, Focardi and Rossi's paper does not say that. It says only “additives.” It does not say which ones. Quote: "The system on which we operate consists of Ni, in H atmosphere and in the presence of additives placed in a sealed container and heated by a current passing through a resistor."
Focardi, S. and A. Rossi, A new energy source from nuclear fusion. http://www.journal-of-nuclear-physics.com, 2010
https://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/FocardiSanewenergy.pdf
Biberian mentions LiAlH4. Budko says he tried this, but it produced no heat. See:
Budko, K. and A. Korshunov, Calorimetric Investigation of Anomalous Heat Production in Ni–H Systems. J. Condensed Matter Nucl. Sci., 2017. 23: p. 85-9
https://www.lenr-canr.org/acro…JPjcondensedv.pdf#page=90
I do not find any other experiment using nickel powder and lithium aluminium hydride. In fact, I cannot find any papers that claims excess heat from nickel powder, except Focardi and Rossi, and later Levi et al. with Rossi’s cell:
Levi, G., et al., Indication of anomalous heat energy production in a reactor device containing hydrogen loaded nickel powder 2013: Bologna University
https://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/LeviGindication.pdf
Apparently, Berlinguette et al. were trying to replicate Rossi without knowing what the powder in his cell was made of. That seems like a bad idea to me. I think you should only try to replicate experiments for which you have full details and the cooperation of the person who did the experiment, or someone else who replicated. Berlinguette et al. never mention Rossi in their paper, and there are no references to his work, so perhaps I am wrong. But I cannot find anyone else who supposedly used this material, and I cannot find anyone who reported that it worked.
Ed Storms believes Rossi did not use nickel plus aluminum hydride.
