Scientists unveil world-first battery breakthrough fueled by unlikely energy source: ‘Next-generation power supply’

A team of researchers has harnessed the power of natural radioactive decay to create a battery cell that could last years or even decades without recharging.

The cell is designed with an electrode embedded with carbon-14-based quantum dots connected to an enhanced perovskite absorber layer, according to Tech Xplore.

Electricity is generated by capturing beta rays emitted during the decay process, and these batteries could run for years without any maintenance, at least in theory.

There’s also a degree of biological safety involved. The beta rays generated can’t penetrate human skin, and thin sheets of aluminum would be enough to safely shield these devices.

Professor Su-Il In of the Department of Energy Science & Engineering at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea led the research team and recently published a paper on the work.

“This research marks the world’s first demonstration of the practical viability of betavoltaic cells. We plan to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation power supply technologies for extreme environments and pursue further miniaturization and technology transfer,” said In, according to the report.

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Lithium-ion and nickel-based battery designs have relatively short lifespans and require frequent recharging. They’re also vulnerable to heat and moisture, which makes them less reliable in extreme environments.

The betavoltaic cells developed by In’s research team were said to have achieved a nearly 56,000-fold increase in electron mobility over conventional ones and maintained a stable power output for up to nine hours of continuous operation during tests.

Unlike clean energy sources like nuclear power and the promise of fusion, these radioisotope batteries produce very small amounts of electricity, but their long-term supply of power could be beneficial for medical devices, military applications, and space exploration.

“We can put safe nuclear energy into devices the size of a finger,” said In, adding that a pacemaker powered by a betavoltaic cell could last a person’s lifetime.

By using nuclear batteries, we could reduce the amount of mining that’s necessary for other types of batteries, resulting in less pollution and ecosystem harm. They also don’t require recharging, which would reduce the draw on the energy grid.

For now, though, researchers have a lot of work ahead of them. While studies suggest that perovskites in betavoltaic cells can reach 28% energy conversion efficiency, they’ve only managed about 1.83% ECE with their current device.

“Although this research involves daily challenges that often seem impossible, we are driven by a strong sense of mission, knowing that the future of our nation is closely tied to energy security,” said doctoral student and study co-author Junho Lee, per Tech Xplore.

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