First water-based nuclear battery developed
19 Sept 2014 4:50 AM IST
Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have created a long-lasting and more efficient nuclear battery that could be used in various applications such as a source of reliable energy in automobiles and space flight.
The battery uses a radioactive isotope called strontium-90 that boosts electro-chemical energy in a water-based solution.
A nano-structured titanium dioxide electrode (the common element found in sunscreens and UV
blockers) with a platinum coating collects and effectively converts energy into electrons.
‘Betavoltaics, a battery technology that generates power from radiation, has been studied as an energy source since the 1950s,’ said Jae W Kwon.
Jae W Kwon is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and nuclear engineering in the College of Engineering at MU.
‘Controlled nuclear technologies are not inherently dangerous. We already have many commercial uses of nuclear technologies in our lives including fire detectors in bedrooms and emergency exit signs in buildings.’
Water acts as a buffer and surface plasmons (collective oscillation of the electrons) created in the
device turned out to be very useful in increasing its efficiency.
‘The ionic solution is not easily frozen at very low temperatures and could work in a wide variety of applications including car batteries and, if packaged properly, perhaps spacecraft,’ Kwon noted.
The research, ‘Plasmon-assisted radiolytic energy conversion in aqueous solutions,’ was conducted by Kwon’s research group at MU and was published in Nature.
The battery uses a radioactive isotope called strontium-90 that boosts electro-chemical energy in a water-based solution.
A nano-structured titanium dioxide electrode (the common element found in sunscreens and UV
blockers) with a platinum coating collects and effectively converts energy into electrons.
‘Betavoltaics, a battery technology that generates power from radiation, has been studied as an energy source since the 1950s,’ said Jae W Kwon.
Jae W Kwon is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and nuclear engineering in the College of Engineering at MU.
‘Controlled nuclear technologies are not inherently dangerous. We already have many commercial uses of nuclear technologies in our lives including fire detectors in bedrooms and emergency exit signs in buildings.’
Water acts as a buffer and surface plasmons (collective oscillation of the electrons) created in the
device turned out to be very useful in increasing its efficiency.
‘The ionic solution is not easily frozen at very low temperatures and could work in a wide variety of applications including car batteries and, if packaged properly, perhaps spacecraft,’ Kwon noted.
The research, ‘Plasmon-assisted radiolytic energy conversion in aqueous solutions,’ was conducted by Kwon’s research group at MU and was published in Nature.
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