Most commonly, hysteresis in metal/H systems is manifested by the observation that the
equilibrium H 2 pressure corresponding to formation of the hydride phase from the H-
saturated metal, p~÷#, Is greater than the decomposition pressure, P~-~ a" Hysteresis is of
some practical importance because it reduces the efficiency of hydrogen (energy) storage
systems (I). Many explanations have been offered for hysteresis (2-8) but there still seems to
be no general agreement as to its detailed origin (8). In 1976 Birnbaum et al (9) investigated …