Must-Read: These Diamond Batteries Could Last More Than 5,000 Years

These Diamond Batteries Could Last More
Than 5,000 Years
What if I say you that you can now generate power
from the waste materials? Yes, now you can use
nuclear waste for generating power, the significant
thing, on top of the fact that you don’t need to find
somewhere to store it, is it doesn’t generate carbon
dioxide so it would be great for the environment.
A team of scientists from the University of Bristol
proposes a revolutionary response.

They have found a
way to turn this waste into clean batteries which also
last for thousands of years.
The British team did not work directly on batteries,
but on ways to recycle the fuel of the oldest nuclear
plants in the UK. The Magnox reactors of these
plants use graphite to keep under control the nuclear
fission.
The process converts the material into a radioactive
isotope, carbon-14. Britain has more than 100,000
tons of radioactive carbon does not know how to
recycle. The radiation emitted by the material just have
the outdoor range, but still is not something that can
be buried in the first hole of the English countryside
they find.

The solution Bristol group has been taking advantage
of a very particular quality of industrial diamonds.
When these stones receive radiation generate a small
electric current. Researchers have split the carbon-14
graphite rods and used it to make a radioactive
diamond.
Striking the crystal lattice of molecules that form the
diamond, beta particles 14 Carbon generate electrons.
To isolate the radioactivity, radioactive diamond has
been coated with a second layer of normal diamond
which perfectly insulates the radiation and generates
more electricity above.
The result is a stone that emits electricity without
moving parts and does not pollute. Despite its low
power relative to current batteries, this new technology
could reduce problems with nuclear waste and the
generation of clean electricity.
As if this were not enough, its duration is directly
related to the speed at which the radioactive isotope
decays within. Researchers estimate that after 5730
years the would be still at 50% load. Hence, The life
of these batteries could revolutionize devices that
require power for long time scales, from satellites to
high-altitude aircraft or even spaceships.
The bad news is that the current generated by the
prototype created in Bristol is not very intense, but
could revolutionize sectors with needs of small voltage
and which can not or is difficult to change the
batteries as medical devices (pacemakers) or space
probes. The University of Bristol has requested more
ideas for these batteries in social networks using the
“#diamondbatteries” label.
Credit : Techviral