Micronuclear battery Chinese researchers develop extremely durable battery

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Chinese scientists have developed a novel micro-nuclear battery that uses radioactive waste and is supposed to have an extremely high energy conversion rate. Theoretically, this mini battery could provide electricity for 1000 years.

Henrik Bork, long-time China correspondent for Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Rundschau, is Managing Director at Asia Waypoint, a consulting agency specialized in China based in Beijing. "China Market Insider" is a joint project of Vogel Communications Group, Würzburg, and Jigong Vogel Media Advertising in Beijing.

For more than a century, scientists worldwide have been trying to develop long-lasting nuclear batteries. Some have already been used, such as in space. However, they have not been particularly efficient so far.

The innovative approach of Chinese scientists now consists in having found a way to convert the alpha radiation of radioactive material into electricity, instead of, as is usual in this field of micro-nuclear batteries, the beta radiation. As the team led by Professor Shuao Wang from Soochow University in Suzhou reports in a paper in the scientific journal Nature, their discovery is based on the radioactive isotope Americium, which mainly arises as a fission product in nuclear reactors and has a half-life of several hundred years.

Energy converter transforms alpha radiation into light and further into electricity

The main challenge so far was to reduce the high self-absorption of the alpha particles. The scientists succeeded in doing this with the help of a "coalescence energy converter" they developed, which envelops the isotopes as a polymer layer and interacts with them on the molecular level. Similar to a photovoltaic cell, the alpha radiation from the decay of Americium can thus be transformed into light and from there into electricity in the novel battery.

The result is described as an "8,000-fold improvement in energy conversion efficiency from a decay process for the purpose of autoluminescence" compared to conventional battery architectures, the researchers write. This represents one of the "most significant scientific advances in the field of nuclear batteries in decades," writes the Chinese science newspaper Keji Ribao. The new mini battery could "theoretically be used for more than 1,000 years."

Realistically, in real applications, it will initially be several decades, as the researchers themselves say. This is because americium has a relatively long half-life of 432.2 years, but the other materials in a battery usually wear out much sooner.

Power supply in challenging environments

Nevertheless, the new battery enables significantly longer use in challenging environments where replacement is problematic. "Ideally, we envision using our micro-nuclear battery to power miniature sensors in remote or demanding environments where traditional energy sources are impractical, such as in deep-sea exploration, space missions, or remote monitoring stations," quotes the British portal New Scientist, citing the head of the research team.

In the initial experiments where researchers simulated microscopically small battery cells, only enough electricity was generated that 40 billion of these cells would be needed to light a single 60-watt light bulb.

As is usual with such new inventions, there are still a number of further hurdles to overcome before industrial applications are possible. Among other things, the output of the new microbatteries needs to be increased. Work is already underway on this, it is said.

Hope for a permanent and reliable energy source

Yet, the 8,000-fold increase in the energy conversion rate and the occurrence of the isotope in radioactive waste give cause for hope that a permanent and reliable energy source has been found that also operates emission-free. The energy conversion has "broken all scientific records" in this field, writes the Chinese science newspaper.

Professor Wang had previously spent years researching nuclear waste management and the treatment of radioactive wastewater. For the new microbattery, he also collaborated with scientists from nuclear research institutes at several Chinese universities.

Further experiments needed

Essentially, in this new battery, the long half-life and high energy of certain alpha particles, which are responsible for the prolonged toxicity in nuclear waste, are turned from a disadvantage into an advantage and used for a long-lasting energy source. The concentrations and designs in which safe use of these radioactive isotopes is possible will also have to be the subject of further experiments.