Энергия выделяется за счёт распада радиоактивного изотопа
Physicists from the Moscow Institute of physics and technology (MIPT), Institute of technology of superhard and new carbon materials(TISNCM) and The national research technological University "MISIS" have developed a new power supply. Electricity in it is produced by the beta decay of Nickel-63.
The stored energy density is 3,300 milliwatt-hours per gram, which is the best result among similar devices and is ten times higher than the performance of traditional batteries. In addition, an important advantage of this energy source is its service life (decades). This will allow you to use it where recharging is inappropriate or impossible, for example, to power pacemakers and spacecraft.
The achievement is described in a scientific paper published in the journal Diamond and Related Materials by a group led by Vladimir Blank, Director TISNUM and head of the Department of Physics and chemistry of nanostructures of MIPT.
Traditional batteries or, scientifically speaking, galvanic cells use the energy of chemical reactions. They are cheap and compact, but have a serious drawback: quickly "sit down". Probably, every owner of a smartphone, laptop or other mobile device got into uncomfortable situations because of this.
However, it is still flowers compared to the problems of people using pacemakers. Mode "podzaryadit or die" hardly anyone seems comfortable.
Finally, humanity sends probes into the depths of space, and in the vast Universe outlets just can not find. Near the Earth, this problem is solved by the use of solar panels, but with interplanetary devices, the situation is much more difficult. Therefore, for example, the Rover "Kyuriositi" has a power source, in which the heat of nuclear decay is converted into electricity (the so-called RITEG). However, such devices are cumbersome, and it will not work to push them into the pacemaker.
Meanwhile, in 1953 he invented the so-called beta-politicheskii element. Electrons formed during the beta decay of a radioactive isotope enter a semiconductor with a special structure, convert its atoms into ions, and an electric current appears in the circuit. In the 1970s, this technology was brought to industrial use and began to be used in pacemakers, but they were too expensive and also low-power.
The group Forma set a task to develop effective and cheap beta-voltaic elements. In the devices created by physicists, electrons were emitted by radioactive Nickel-63 and got into diamond converters based on the effect known as Schottky barrier. The full electric power of the battery was about one micro-watt, and the specific power reached ten micro-watts per cubic centimeter. This is enough to power a modern pacemaker. The half-life of Nickel-63 is about a hundred years. Thus, about 3300 milliwatt-hours are stored in one gram of the battery, which is ten times more than in chemical batteries.
The sample of the "nuclear battery" consisted of two hundred diamond converters, alternating layers of Nickel-63 foil and stable Nickel. A separate problem was to calculate the optimal thickness of the layers of radioactive metal. If it is too large, electrons will be absorbed without reaching the transducer. And if it is small, then the particles will be released too little. All previous models of beta-voltaic cells were poorly optimized for this parameter.
Calculations have shown that for maximum efficiency, the thickness of one Nickel-63 layer should be about two micrometers, and the diamond Converter — about 10 micrometers.
The most difficult task was the production of a large number of diamond converters with a complex internal structure with a thickness of just a few dozen micrometers (like a plastic bag from a supermarket). Traditional methods of reducing the thickness of the diamond were not suitable for this.
MIPT and TISNUM scientists have developed a special technology with the use of ion implantation, deposition from the gas phase, high-temperature annealing, electrochemical etching and other methods with interesting names. It is important that the technique created by experts allows to obtain a diamond layer of the desired thickness and structure relatively cheaply.
However, the development will not be able to immediately implement, because in Russia there is no industrial production of Nickel-63. But by the mid-2020s is to create an industry. In the meantime, the authors have time to further improve their offspring.
"We have already achieved an outstanding result that can be used in medicine and space technology, but are not going to stop there," says Blank.