Berkeley Lab and UC Davis Researchers Discover Materials Can Enhance Fusion Reactions
Scientists at the University of California, Davis, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered that materials surrounding a fusion reaction can significantly increase the frequency of the reaction, especially at low energies where fusion is typically rare. This breakthrough, published in Nature Communications, introduces a new field of 'materials-driven fusion.' The research suggests that instead of merely designing materials to withstand the harsh conditions of fusion, they can be engineered to enhance the reaction, akin to how catalysts accelerate chemical processes. The study involved using deuterium, a heavy form of hydrogen, packed into thin foils of palladium and titanium, and firing deuterium ions at these foils to measure fusion rates. The findings revealed that certain materials could increase fusion rates by a quintillion times compared to bare fusion reactions. 
