The nuclear battery developed by Betavolt could be used, for example, in telephones.
Diagram of the battery structure. The battery uses a combination of nickel-63 isotope and diamond semiconductor. Betavolt
Chinese startup company Betavolt has released a new battery. The company claims the battery lasts 50 years without charging or maintenance, reports The Independent.
According to the company, the next-generation battery is already in the pilot phase and will eventually be mass-produced for commercial applications such as phones and drones.
According to Betavolt, the nuclear battery is the world’s first miniature atomic energy application.
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The company’s first nuclear battery has one hundred microwatts of power and a voltage of three volts in a volume smaller than a regular coin (15 x 15 x 5 mm). By 2025, they also plan to produce a one-watt battery.
The battery uses a combination of the radioactive nickel-63 isotope and the fourth generation diamond semiconductor.
Betavolt uses a principle invented in 2016, where the idea is to choose an isotope that releases beta minus (β⁻) particles, i.e. energetic and fast electrons. When the particles are released, the diamond acts as a semiconductor and produces an electric current, he says New Atlas.
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The battery, which is smaller than a coin, is claimed to last up to 50 years. Betavolt
Nuclear batteries use the natural decay of nuclei, unlike nuclear reactors, which use chain reactions.
– The nuclear battery continuously produces electricity, approximately 8.64 joules per day, or 3,153 joules per year, Betavolt’s chairman and CEO Zhang Wei says in the bulletin.
The company says in a press release that the battery is completely safe. It does not cause external radiation, so it is also usable in medical applications, such as pacemakers or artificial hearts.
Nuclear batteries are environmentally friendly. The isotopes of the decay period change into a stable isotope of copper, which is not radioactive and does not pose a threat or pollution to the environment.