Researchers create smaller and more efficient nuclear battery
October 7, 2009
(PhysOrg.com) -- Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient.
"To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density," said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU. "The radioisotope battery can provide power density that is six orders of magnitude higher than chemical batteries."
Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, currently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro/nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS). Although nuclear batteries can pose concerns, Kwon said they are safe.
"People hear the word 'nuclear' and think of something very dangerous," he said. "However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems."
His innovation is not only in the battery's size, but also in its semiconductor. Kwon's battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor.
"The critical part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure of the solid semiconductor," Kwon said. "By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem."
Kwon has been collaborating with J. David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, and is working to build and test the battery at the facility. In the future, they hope to increase the battery's power, shrink its size and try with various other materials. Kwon said that the battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair. They've also applied for a provisional patent.
Kwon's research has been published in the Journal of Applied Physics Letters and Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry.
Source: University of Missouri-Columbia (news : web)
Sep 20, 2004 |
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You mentioned RTG, but I doubt if an inefficient thermal conversion design would be used in practice. A radioisotope woven into a matrix of microscopic semiconductors could provide a highly efficient power source with a lifetime measured in months or even years.
Yet even if we encase the isotope in a graphene matrix, it is still vulnerable to abuse by deliberate deconstruction and refinement of the isotope and if concentrated enough these isotopes can cause mischief most societies would not welcome.
Perhaps the question becomes "What is the most harmless yet concentrated decay source safely used by the people?"
And then there will be the issue of price. Any battery energy is expensive and I bet this is more expensive than traditional chemical cells. But because of the better power per size ratio (power density), they might be the only choice in certain uses, like pacemakers.
Photovoltaic tech is just about the cost of oil energy, so a real substitution candidate within years. Batteries are missing. Fuel cells may be an answer in some cases, but not for cars so far.
Check:
http://zorropaid....res-law/
Human ingenuity and imagination makes it that basically Moore's law applies to all tech. Even with all the nay-sayers we keep on surprising ourselves, finding new solutions to "impossible" problems.
Emotional opposition to nuclear power is irrelevant and will likely be completely forgotten when gasoline prices approach $5 a gallon.