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Nuclear smartphone 3V battery lasting for 50 years

energymetalnews.com

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Re: Nuclear smartphone 3V battery lasting for 50 years

#31

Post by bArray »

ephemeral-life wrote: post #6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device

> In 2018 a Russian design based on 2-micron thick nickel-63 slabs sandwiched between 10 micron diamond layers was introduced. It produced a power output of about 1 μW at a power density of 10 μW/cm3. Its energy density was 3.3 kWh/kg. The half-life of nickel-63 is 100 years.

And there's nothing to suggest that much has changed in the last ~5 years. It's essentially a radiation source sandwiched in-between solar panels.

> Beijing-based Betavolt said its nuclear battery is the first in the world to realise the miniaturisation of atomic energy, placing 63 nuclear isotopes into a module smaller than a coin.

My guess is that this is 63 'modules', rather than 63 different isotopes?

> Betavoltaic nuclear batteries can be purchased commercially. Available devices include a 100 μW tritium-powered device weighing 20 grams

This will just about run an RTC, you would struggle to run an entire smart phone, which random sources seem to agree is about 2W minimum.

> The quest to miniaturise and commercialise nuclear batteries was taken up under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan designed to strengthen the country’s economy between 2021 and 2025, while research institutions in the US and Europe are also working on their development.

Here is your motivation for the bluff - companies under pressure to meet arbitrary 5-year plan goals set by the CCP [1].

My major concern would be in what happens to these batteries after use. This is not the kind of thing that should be thrown into landfill.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_five-year_plan_(Chi...

Re: Nuclear smartphone 3V battery lasting for 50 years

#32

Post by Arnt »

ale42 wrote: post #20
foobarbecue wrote: post #17

"placing 63 nuclear isotopes into a module smaller than a coin" Whoever wrote this does not know what an isotope is. Also, the site's attempt to ban copy/paste is annoying. Interesting product if real!

I first laughed after reading that sentence... I guess they are speaking about some amount of ⁶³Ni, which actually decays to copper as they say.

Might be broken cut-and-paste obscuring the meaning.

If you copy ⁶³Ni (written that way or using html ) and the two programs involved share only fontless ASCII as format, the conversion via ASCII might leave 63Ni or 63 Ni (if the becomes a wordbreak); easy to misunderstand.

Re: Nuclear smartphone 3V battery lasting for 50 years

#33

Post by danbruc »

bArray wrote: post #31
ephemeral-life wrote: post #6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaic_device

> In 2018 a Russian design based on 2-micron thick nickel-63 slabs sandwiched between 10 micron diamond layers was introduced. It produced a power output of about 1 μW at a power density of 10 μW/cm3. Its energy density was 3.3 kWh/kg. The half-life of nickel-63 is 100 years. And there's nothing to suggest that much has changed in the last ~5 years. It's essentially a radiation source sandwiched in-between solar pane…

My guess is that this is 63 'modules', rather than 63 different isotopes?

My first guess was element 63, so an europium isotope, but now that you mentioned it, it might also just refer to nickel 63.

Re: Nuclear smartphone 3V battery lasting for 50 years

#35

Post by xela79 »

Ballas wrote: post #9

What's with the title, the current battery produces 100 microwatts, and there is no "smartphone" in the title. And I assume the "63 nuclear isotopes" mentioned in the article refers to nickel-63, not actually only 63 isotopes...

not a very high quality source article indeed, first paragraph: "A Chinese startup has unveiled a new battery that it claims can generate electricity for 50 years with the need for charging or maintenance."

wauw, a battery that needs charging.

did they even read what they wrote?

Re: Nuclear smartphone 3V battery lasting for 50 years

#36

Post by soco »

Ballas wrote: post #9

What's with the title, the current battery produces 100 microwatts, and there is no "smartphone" in the title. And I assume the "63 nuclear isotopes" mentioned in the article refers to nickel-63, not actually only 63 isotopes...

Unless it's a perfectly legitimate output of ChatGPT or the likes.

Re: Nuclear smartphone 3V battery lasting for 50 years

#38

Post by tivert »

poulpy123 wrote: post #16

to be clear, it's not nuclear as we understand it usually, by having a fission reaction, but using the energy of the decaying radioactive isotopes concerted to electricity. The technology is used in space probes. The issue is that it is still radioactive, and I'm very wary to see an associated pollution if it's used by the general public

> to be clear, it's not nuclear as we understand it usually, by having a fission reaction, but using the energy of the decaying radioactive isotopes concerted to electricity.

Isn't radioactive decay a fission reaction?

Re: Nuclear smartphone 3V battery lasting for 50 years

#39

Post by jauntywundrkind »

Ballas wrote: post #9

What's with the title, the current battery produces 100 microwatts, and there is no "smartphone" in the title. And I assume the "63 nuclear isotopes" mentioned in the article refers to nickel-63, not actually only 63 isotopes...

100mW probably enough to idle a sizable % of phones on. One could definitely make a low powered phone that slowly recharges a super capacitor or regular battery while idling. Basically use the nuclear battery like a range-extender in a hybrid car, dumping power in, but not driving the phone.
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