A betavoltaic device (betavoltaic cell or betavoltaic battery) is a type of

nuclear battery An atomic battery, nuclear battery, radioisotope battery or radioisotope generator is a device which uses energy from the decay of a radioactive isotope to generate electricity. Like nuclear reactors, they generate electricity from nuclear ene ...

which generates

electric current An electric current is a stream of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space. It is measured as the net rate of flow of electric charge through a surface or into a control volume. The moving pa ...

from

beta particle A beta particle, also called beta ray or beta radiation (symbol β), is a high-energy, high-speed electron or positron emitted by the radioactive decay of an atomic nucleus during the process of beta decay. There are two forms of beta decay, β� ...

s (

electron The electron ( or ) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have no kn ...

s) emitted from a

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...

source, using

semiconductor junction A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. ...

s. A common source used is the

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

isotope Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numbers) ...

tritium Tritium ( or , ) or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with half-life about 12 years. The nucleus of tritium (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus o ...

. Unlike most nuclear power sources which use nuclear radiation to generate heat which then is used to generate electricity, betavoltaic devices use a non-thermal conversion process, converting the electron-hole pairs produced by the ionization trail of beta particles traversing a semiconductor.A 25-Year Battery: Long-lived nuclear batteries powered by hydrogen isotopes are in testing for military applications
Katherine Bourzac,

Technology Review ''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and editorially independent of the university. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "The" in ...

, MIT, 17 Nov 2009. Betavoltaic power sources (and the related technology of alphavoltaic power sources) are particularly well-suited to low-power electrical applications where long life of the energy source is needed, such as implantable medical devices or

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

applications.

History

Betavoltaics were invented in the 1970s. Some

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

s in the 1970s used betavoltaics based on

promethium Promethium is a chemical element with the symbol Pm and atomic number 61. All of its isotopes are radioactive; it is extremely rare, with only about 500–600 grams naturally occurring in Earth's crust at any given time. Promethium is one of onl ...

, but were phased out as cheaper lithium batteries were developed. Early

semiconducting A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...

materials weren't efficient at converting

s from

beta decay In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron) is emitted from an atomic nucleus, transforming the original nuclide to an isobar of that nuclide. For ...

into usable current, so higher energy, more expensive—and potentially hazardous—

s were used. The more efficient semiconducting materials used today can be paired with relatively benign isotopes such as tritium, which produce less radiation. The

Betacel Betacel is considered to be the first commercially successful betavoltaic battery."Nuclear-Fueled Cardiac Pacemakers," Fred N. Huffman and John C. Norman, CHEST 65, page 667 - 672 (1974). It was developed in the early 1970s by Larry C. Olsen at ...

was considered the first successfully commercialized betavoltaic battery.

Proposals

The primary use for betavoltaics is for remote and long-term use, such as

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

requiring electrical power for a decade or two. Recent progress has prompted some to suggest using betavoltaics to trickle-charge conventional batteries in consumer devices, such as

cell phones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

and

laptop computers A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

. As early as 1973, betavoltaics were suggested for use in long-term medical devices such as

pacemakers An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a Implant (medicine), medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the Heart ...

. In 2018 a Russian design based on 2-micron thick

nickel-63 Naturally occurring nickel (28Ni) is composed of five stable isotopes; , , , and , with being the most abundant (68.077% natural abundance). 26 radioisotopes have been characterised with the most stable being with a half-life of 76,000 years, ...

slabs sandwiched between 10 micron diamond layers was introduced. It produced a power output of about 1 μW at a

power density Power density is the amount of power (time rate of energy transfer) per unit volume. In energy transformers including batteries, fuel cells, motors, power supply units etc., power density refers to a volume, where it is often called volume p ...

of 10 μW/cm³. Its energy density was 3.3 kWh/kg. The half-life of nickel-63 is 100 years. Recent work has indicated the viability of betavoltaic devices in high-temperature environments in excess of like the surface of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

Drawbacks

As radioactive material emits, it slowly decreases in activity (refer to

half-life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...

). Thus, over time a betavoltaic device will provide less power. For practical devices, this decrease occurs over a period of many years. For

devices, the half-life is 12.32 years. In device design, one must account for what battery characteristics are required at end-of-life, and ensure that the beginning-of-life properties take into account the desired usable lifetime. Liability connected with environmental laws and human exposure to tritium and its beta decay must also be taken into consideration in risk assessment and product development. Naturally, this increases both time-to-market and the already high cost associated with tritium. A 2007 report by the UK government's

Health Protection Agency The Health Protection Agency (HPA) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It was an organisation that was set up by the UK government in 2003 to protect the public from threats to their health from infectious diseases and envi ...

Advisory Group on Ionizing Radiation declared the health risks of tritium exposure to be double those previously set by the

International Commission on Radiological Protection The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) is an independent, international, non-governmental organization, with the mission to protect people, animals, and the environment from the harmful effects of ionising radiation. Its r ...

located in Sweden. As radioactive decay cannot be stopped, sped up or slowed down easily, there is no way to "switch off" the battery or regulate its power output. For some applications this is irrelevant, but others will need a backup chemical battery to store energy when it isn't needed for when it is. This reduces the advantage of high power density.

Availability

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

Safety

Although betavoltaics use a radioactive material as a power source, the beta particles used are low energy and easily stopped by a few millimetres of shielding. With proper device construction (that is, proper shielding and containment), a betavoltaic device would not emit dangerous radiation. Leakage of the enclosed material would engender health risks, just as leakage of the materials in other types of batteries (such as

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...

and

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

) leads to significant health and environmental concerns. Safety can be further increased by transforming the radioisotope used into a chemically inert and mechanically stable form, which reduces the risk of dispersal or

bioaccumulation Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals, in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost or eliminated ...

in case of leakage.

Efficiency

Due to the high

of radioisotopes and the need for reliability above all else in many applications of betavoltaics, comparatively low efficiencies are acceptable. Current technology allows for single digit percentages of

energy conversion efficiency Energy conversion efficiency (''η'') is the ratio between the useful output of an energy conversion machine and the input, in energy terms. The input, as well as the useful output may be chemical, electric power, mechanical work, light (radia ...

from beta particle input to electricity output, but research into higher efficiency is ongoing. By comparison

thermal efficiency In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency (\eta_) is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, steam turbine, steam engine, boiler, furnace, refrigerator, ACs etc. For a he ...

in the range of 30% is considered relatively low for new large scale thermal power plants and advanced

combined cycle A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...

power plants achieve 60% and more efficiency if measured by electricity output per heat input. If the betavoltaic device doubles as a

radioisotope heater unit Radioisotope heater units (RHU) are small devices that provide heat through radioactive decay. They are similar to tiny radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) and normally provide about one watt of heat each, derived from the decay of a fe ...

it is in effect a

cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elect ...

plant and achieves much higher total efficiencies as much of the

waste heat Waste heat is heat that is produced by a machine, or other process that uses energy, as a byproduct of doing work. All such processes give off some waste heat as a fundamental result of the laws of thermodynamics. Waste heat has lower utility ...

is used for useful purposes. Similar to

photovoltaics Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially us ...

, the

Shockley–Queisser limit In physics, the radiative efficiency limit (also known as the detailed balance limit, Shockley–Queisser limit, Shockley Queisser Efficiency Limit or SQ Limit) is the maximum theoretical efficiency of a solar cell using a single p-n junction ...

also imposes an absolute limit for a single bandgap betavoltaic device.

References

External links

University of Rochester news release

City Labs

Widetronix
* *{{cite web, url=http://www.gizmag.com/city-labs-nanotritium-betavoltaic-battery/23720/ , title=Commercially-available NanoTritium battery can power microelectronics for 20+ years , publisher=Gizmag.com , date=2012-08-16 , access-date=2012-08-22 Nuclear technology Battery (electricity)