Two different architectures of radiophotovoltaic batteries. Credit: Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07933-9
A team of physicists and engineers affiliated with several institutions in China has developed an extremely small nuclear battery that they say is up to 8,000 times more efficient than its predecessors. Their paper is published in the journal Nature.
Scientists have been searching for decades for a way to create tiny nuclear power plants. These could power virtually any device, from phones to robots to cars. Unfortunately, the development of such plants is hampered by the dangerous nature of nuclear power plants, no matter how small.
One approach is to develop devices powered by batteries charged with nuclear material. These devices are typically small in size to reduce the amount of nuclear material needed, which has reduced the potential amount of energy they could produce. They are also extremely inefficient.
In this new study, the research team found a way to create a much more efficient device.
The device the researchers designed and built is relatively simple and straightforward. They placed a small amount of americium into a crystal and then used its radiated energy (alpha particles) to produce light. The result is a crystal that glows green.
They connected the crystal to a photovoltaic cell that converts light into electricity. The device was then placed inside a quartz cell to prevent radiation leakage.
In testing their device, the team found that it could remain charged for a long time, perhaps even decades. They note that americium’s half-life is 7,380 years, but radiation would erode the materials that house it long before that.
Further testing showed the device to be about 8,000 times more efficient than any other nuclear-powered battery system developed to date, although they note that the amount of energy produced is very small: it would take 40 billion of these power packs to light a 60-watt light bulb.
The researchers suggest that further improvements could lead to tiny power supplies for small, remote devices such as those sent into deep space.
More information:
Kai Li et al, Micronuclear battery based on coalescent energy transducer, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07933-9
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