Dehydrogenation of vanadium by annealing with zirconium foils

Abstract The hydrogen contents of vanadium wire specimens can be monitored sensitively by measuring the internal friction in a torsion pendulum, i.e . by measuring the position of the hydride precipitation peak, the self-twisting of the wires at the onset of precipitation and the occurrence of the a peak. By utilizing these phenomena the change in the hydrogen content of a vanadium wire was monitored after successive annealings at higher temperatures in evacuated sealed quartz capsules with zirconium foils; because of the gettering action of zirconium, hydrogen in the vanadium is absorbed by the zirconium. The dehydrogenation begins at about 400 °C and “hydrogen-free” specimens, as judged by the absence of the α peak after cold working, are obtained after annealing at 1100 °C.