Scientists Invent 30 Year Continuous Power Laptop Battery - no recharging needed

[PhotonBoy]

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news-betavoltaic-10.1.html

[SIZE=-1][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Your next laptop could have a continuous power battery that lasts for 30 years without a single recharge thanks to work being funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years...."

Comments from reddit.com:

http://reddit.com/info/2vcvd/comments
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[redfish]

Radioactive isotopes, huh? Good luck trying to take it on a plane!

 

[coolwaters]

lol sounds pretty dangerous...but thats really cool.

just imagine if that blew up...

hey then cant they put that in cars?

 

[B@rt]

Hmm, I wonder how many Curies that batt would have to have....
Sounds interesting though, and very simular to our use of tritium.

 

[Cuso]

lol sounds pretty dangerous...but thats really cool.

just imagine if that blew up...

hey then cant they put that in cars?

HA!! Not until every drop of oil has been sucked from mother Earth , they wont...

 

[Melchior]

and you thought Lithium was dangerous. Never expect to see a 'civilian' with one of these.

I wonder what the constant current is....

Also 30 Years is a far stretch, Tritium has a Half-Life of just over 10 Years.
And Tritium ain't cheap either.

 

[Radio]

Is it April 1st already? :thinking:

 

[PhotonWrangler]

What happens when they overheat and "vent?"

 

[Fallingwater]

Hmm. So basically what they've done is to squish an RTG in a shape and size good for a laptop, while also greatly improving efficiency.
The only question remaining is how dangerous the actual isotope is in comparison to the ones used in existing RTGs.
Strontium RTG capsules have occasionally been ripped out of abandoned generators by scavengers, and given them (and everybody else who got exposed) considerable doses of radiation poisoning.

If the betavoltaic cells are to become widely used the isotope needs to be much less radioactive than that, so when the batteries are inevitably disassembled by curious users they don't generate a massive phenomenon of radiation poisoning.

Regardless, I want one!

 

[mudman cj]

and you thought Lithium was dangerous. Never expect to see a 'civilian' with one of these.

I wonder what the constant current is....

Also 30 Years is a far stretch, Tritium has a Half-Life of just over 10 Years.
And Tritium ain't cheap either.

Tritium is the byproduct of the reaction, not the source of the energy.

This is very interesting. A check of Wikipedia turned up this article on atomic batteries, which lists Promethium, a beta emitter with a half life of 17.7 years. Perhaps this is the element used as the power source.

If it takes 3 years (if everything goes perfectly) to come out with laptop-sized versions of this technology, I want to know how much longer it will take to make small cylindrical ones for portable illumination devices.

 

[Daekar]

These are interesting, but I have my doubts as to how much wattage they'll be able to support. See... as I understand it, radioactive isotopes decay at a constant rate which never varies, and so would release a constant amount of energy which never varied. Unless they pair this technology with traditional battery technology or some kind of capacitors, I don't see how it could work. my guess is you'd have to use multiple batteries in series to support any kind of meaningful output...

 

[Advancedmart]

Maybe the process does not need much tritium?

they have gun sights, and watches that use tritium already, I don't see any major concern raised about these.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium
Tritium is radioactive with a half-life of 12.32 years. It decays into helium-3 by the reaction

as for 30 years seems like they could design battery to produce more power than needed, then after 24 years it would be runing at maybe 1/4 of full original power. Because at 12 years it would still have half its power at 24 years 1/4 power.

Helium-3 the by-product of the battery also looks interesting. if these batteries were used in cars and were large, I wonder if it could be salvaged and used for powering a generator?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3
the appeal of helium-3 fusion stems from the nature of its reaction products. Helium-3 itself is non-radioactive. The lone high-energy proton produced can be contained using electric and magnetic fields, which results in direct electricity generation.
===============================

However the powers that be, control oil, I'm pretty sure they do not want to let go of that control by letting non oil alternative take maket share from thier product. Laptop batteries would be allowed but not anything that like cars would be be my guess.

 

[Flying Turtle]

I think a rise in genetic mutations might follow the use of these.

Geoff

 

[Advancedmart]

is there a danger from tritium?

according to this its a gas that will float away if released.

http://www.specialty-lights.com/tritium-questions3.html

releasing the tritium gas, there is no hazard. Because it is hydrogen and therefore lighter than air, when released, the tritium gas is dispersed rapidly and harmlessly into the atmosphere to join the naturally occurring tritium already dispersed. In the highly improbable event that all of the multiple tubes should fracture, the effect is still less than half of that received from naturally occurring radioactive sources during a year, and is similar to the difference between living at sea level and moving to an elevation of 5,000 feet.

 

[Supernam]

What's the point? Electronics become obsolete every 5-10 years. On the other hand, it'd be cool to have a 30 year flashlight battery!

 

[Mash]

What's the point? Electronics become obsolete every 5-10 years. On the other hand, it'd be cool to have a 30 year flashlight battery!

yes indeed, but will it fit my Surefire body without boring?:twothumbs:twothumbs

 

[DM51]

Interesting. There are a many different possible sources of beta radiation, but one problem is that some of them emit alpha and gamma radiation also, or are toxic in other ways if released into the environment.

Beta radiation doesn't penetrate material so is easily shielded, but there could be serious problems start if the shielding failed. To make it safe for public release, this thing would have to be completely harmless even if smashed to bits.

I can't think offhand what the "active ingredient" might be.

 

[B@rt]

is there a danger from tritium?

according to this its a gas that will float away if released.

http://www.specialty-lights.com/tritium-questions3.html

releasing the tritium gas, there is no hazard. Because it is hydrogen and therefore lighter than air, when released, the tritium gas is dispersed rapidly and harmlessly into the atmosphere to join the naturally occurring tritium already dispersed. In the highly improbable event that all of the multiple tubes should fracture, the effect is still less than half of that received from naturally occurring radioactive sources during a year, and is similar to the difference between living at sea level and moving to an elevation of 5,000 feet.

The tritium used in the vials is in no way dangerous, unless you chew a bunch up and inhale the gas. Even than the glass would probably cause more damage...

 

[Bushman5]

What's the point? Electronics become obsolete every 5-10 years. On the other hand, it'd be cool to have a 30 year flashlight battery!

never mind that...thinkg of the flashlight modding potential and runtimes....

 

[uk_caver]

It's not an RTG, as far as I can tell, but relies on the electron from beta radiation interacting with a semiconductor.
I got the impression it was something like the electron ejected from the beta decay ending up on the 'other' side of a PN junction, and having to go all the way round the external circuit to get back to the positive ion it left behind.

If so, I wonder what happens when there *isn't* any load? The decay happens anyway, so presumably the charge has to be got rid of somehow - some internal dummy load in the battery, or maybe a 'hybrid' battery charging up a Li-Ion pack for peak power drains?