nuclear batteries with diamonds

[chillinn]

So there are a number of posts going back to 2004 about nuclear battery announcements.

Here is a new one

The heart of each cell is a small piece of recycled nuclear waste. NDB uses graphite nuclear reactor parts that have absorbed radiation from nuclear fuel rods and have themselves become radioactive. Untreated, it's high-grade nuclear waste: dangerous, difficult and expensive to store, with a very long half-life.

This graphite is rich in the carbon-14 radioisotope, which undergoes beta decay into nitrogen, releasing an anti-neutrino and a beta decay electron in the process. NDB takes this graphite, purifies it and uses it to create tiny carbon-14 diamonds. The diamond structure acts as a semiconductor and heat sink, collecting the charge and transporting it out. Completely encasing the radioactive carbon-14 diamond is a layer of cheap, non-radioactive, lab-created carbon-12 diamond, which contains the energetic particles, prevents radiation leaks and acts as a super-hard protective and tamper-proof layer.

To create a battery cell, several layers of this nano-diamond material are stacked up and stored with a tiny integrated circuit board and a small supercapacitor to collect, store and instantly distribute the charge. NDB says it'll conform to any shape or standard, including AA, AAA, 18650, 2170 or all manner of custom sizes.

28,000 years. How about that runtime?

 

[parametrek]

It has been thoroughly debunked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDFlV0OEK5E

I am not sure why it is making the rounds on the tech news sites again. Nothing has changed since January when it went around the 1st time.

 

[chillinn]

Even if bunked, new tech is always 10 years off from commercial viability anyway. And even if not, the diamond cartel would never let cheap diamonds be manufactured or sold. So it is just for the imagination.

I would like to be able to forget the flashlight running and not have the cells abused. So for a few seconds, I imagined how that would be. And it was grand, until you came along and ruined the dream. Thanks, man.

 

[vadimax]

Another one:

 

[chillinn]

Seems that what is being debunked in these videos (which are awesome btw, very entertaining) is not that the NDB cannot exist, is impossible, or is entirely BS, but that it ever could "revolutionize the entire energy industry" or that any of the marketing is remotely accurate in specifics.

And an AA battery that recharges itself every 2 1/2 years is that much better than one that does not recharge. So you'd buy these batteries for 2 1/2 years, and then never buy another AA, assuming your usage stayed constant. Not all that spectacular, but still better than absolutely nothing. Who wouldn't want a large garage filled wall to wall and to the ceiling and crawlspaces, and covering the roof, full of self-charging nuclear diamond AA batteries full of nuclear waste? And you guys call yourselves pro-nuke?

 

[Timothybil]

The thing to remember is that the output of batteries like this is measured on microamps. The article I read stated that the target for these batteries is things that have a very small current draw and would be usable for years/decades. I suppose one could connect lots of these devices in series or series parallel, but that is not the target environment.

 

[Katherine Alicia]

you`de be better off mixing this nuclear waste with GITD paint and painting it over PV cells making a sandwich. It`s been done with Trit vials and small PV cells and was enough to power a calculator!

 

[chillinn]

Obligatory

 

[HKJ]

They do have their applications, but due to the price it is very limited where they are superior to a Lithium-thionyl Chloride battery that can supply a small amount of current for 10+ years (Once in a while 40 years).
Where I could see they could be beneficial is for low power wireless sensors mounted in inaccessible places that need a long lifetime (Like inside a wall to check humidity).

 

[Timothybil]

The article I read mentioned uses like RFIDs for satellites and other similar uses where there is no practical way to replace the cell when it finally dies.

 

[Havok]

Hope this isn't off topic but, all I can think about is something like the "Radioactive Boy Scout" incident happening all over again.... or worse.