Arkenlight to commercialize nuclear diamond betavoltaic batteries

Researchers at the University of Bristol have formed a company to commercialize highly efficient diamond-based betavoltaic battery technology that turns nuclear waste into a self-sustaining energy source – one that can last for potentially thousands of years without ever needing a charge.

The concept is this: you take particular types of nuclear waste from nuclear power stations – specifically parts of the graphite moderators and reflectors that have been exposed to fuel rod radiation and that have themselves become radioactive in the form of carbon-14.

Carbon-14 is a reasonably safe type of nuclear waste; it emits mainly beta particles, or high-energy electrons, and these don't get far or penetrate into skin. These electrons can be harvested to produce electricity, and instead of placing a collector near the sample, the Bristol team developed a process to convert that carbon-14 into a diamond form.

A carbon-14 diamond, it turns out, can basically generate and collect charge in one spot, greatly reducing the loss factor experienced if those beta particles have to travel any distance. It's also an excellent heat sink, and diamond's ultra-rigid structure and unbeatable hardness also gives you a high degree of mechanical safety because very little can break it.

The next step is to stack up lots of these carbon-14 betabatteries into cells, which could provide a constant power output. Where high power discharge is required, each cell could be accompanied by a small supercapacitor. The C14 diamond will fill up the supercapacitor with a trickle charge lasting potentially thousands of years, and the supercapacitor could offer an excellent quick-discharge capability due to its high power density.

These batteries won't give you an everlasting phone, or charge-free electric car, mind you; the quantities of energy generated are far too small. Instead, they have outstanding potential in a range of low-power devices and sensors, or higher-powered devices that draw power very rarely.

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