A Battery that could last 12 Years!
Yay! TGIW. I think due to all the report typing and report checking, time at work seems to pass much faster. I actually got up this morning thinking it was Tuesday, but was then reminded by my watch that it is Wednesday, which is a good thing cos I can't wait for the weekend. ;)
Today's article is on a battery that has the potential to last 12 years. Now, if you have tonnes of stuff at home that run on batteries, I guess you'd love this. To me, this would be the dream battery. Why? Cos there are some things in my home that can only run on batteries and they run out of juice quite often. For example, just this morning, my electric toothbrush (yes I'm one of those lazy people that lets technology do the work for me) ran out of batteries while I was halfway through brushing my teeth. It just went Brrrrrr.....Brr.....br.....*silence*. So I ended up using my electric toothbrush like a normal toothbrush, which was a bad idea considering the head of the brush is much smaller than the normal ones.
Unfortunately for me, I found out that this battery is developed for devices that "don't consume much power", which effectively means I won't be replacing my toothbrush batteries with these anytime soon. But, I think things like the alarm sensors and remote controllers around the house could use this.
As I was reading the article, I found something about this battery I don't really like - its "based on the radioactive decay of nuclear material", in this case a radioactive gas, Tritium. However, this is the reason for its longevity as it depends on the constant decay of the radioactive material stored inside. This technology is called betavoltaics.
What happens inside the battery is that as the radioactive gas decays, it emits electrons. These electons are captured by a silcon wafer and is "similar to the mechanics of converting sunlight into electricity in a solar panel." This basically generates the current in the battery. So basically, the current depends on how fast the gas decays and how many particles it emits.
Plans are for this battery to be put into surgical implants, spaceships, deep-sea vehicles and other low powered devices whose batteries may be difficult or impossible to change. Also, according to researchers, "It is safe and can be implanted in the body. The energetic particles emitted by tritium do not penetrate inside the skin." Supposedly, these particles can be stopped by even a sheet of paper, so I guess my early worry about the "radioactive source" was unfounded.
Anyway, if their prototype proves successful, we could be seeing such batteries in the market in less than 5 years as the technology required to manufacture these batteries already exist. Hopefully, the researchers can also find a way to make these batteries even more powerful, then maybe such batteries could power stuff like my handphone, toothbrush, laptop and a myraid of other battery operated stuff. I mean, can you imagine how convenient it would be to have a handphone that never needs recharging?
Click here for the full article.
Today's article is on a battery that has the potential to last 12 years. Now, if you have tonnes of stuff at home that run on batteries, I guess you'd love this. To me, this would be the dream battery. Why? Cos there are some things in my home that can only run on batteries and they run out of juice quite often. For example, just this morning, my electric toothbrush (yes I'm one of those lazy people that lets technology do the work for me) ran out of batteries while I was halfway through brushing my teeth. It just went Brrrrrr.....Brr.....br.....*silence*. So I ended up using my electric toothbrush like a normal toothbrush, which was a bad idea considering the head of the brush is much smaller than the normal ones.
Unfortunately for me, I found out that this battery is developed for devices that "don't consume much power", which effectively means I won't be replacing my toothbrush batteries with these anytime soon. But, I think things like the alarm sensors and remote controllers around the house could use this.
As I was reading the article, I found something about this battery I don't really like - its "based on the radioactive decay of nuclear material", in this case a radioactive gas, Tritium. However, this is the reason for its longevity as it depends on the constant decay of the radioactive material stored inside. This technology is called betavoltaics.
What happens inside the battery is that as the radioactive gas decays, it emits electrons. These electons are captured by a silcon wafer and is "similar to the mechanics of converting sunlight into electricity in a solar panel." This basically generates the current in the battery. So basically, the current depends on how fast the gas decays and how many particles it emits.
Plans are for this battery to be put into surgical implants, spaceships, deep-sea vehicles and other low powered devices whose batteries may be difficult or impossible to change. Also, according to researchers, "It is safe and can be implanted in the body. The energetic particles emitted by tritium do not penetrate inside the skin." Supposedly, these particles can be stopped by even a sheet of paper, so I guess my early worry about the "radioactive source" was unfounded.
Anyway, if their prototype proves successful, we could be seeing such batteries in the market in less than 5 years as the technology required to manufacture these batteries already exist. Hopefully, the researchers can also find a way to make these batteries even more powerful, then maybe such batteries could power stuff like my handphone, toothbrush, laptop and a myraid of other battery operated stuff. I mean, can you imagine how convenient it would be to have a handphone that never needs recharging?
A new type of battery based on the radioactive decay of nuclear material is 10 times more powerful than similar prototypes and should last a decade or more without a charge, scientists announced this week.
The longevity would make the battery ideal for use in pacemakers or other surgically implanted devices, developers say, or it might power spacecraft or deep-sea probes.
You might also find these nuclear batteries running sensors and other small devices in your home in a few years. Such devices "don't consume much power," said University of Rochester electrical engineer Philippe Fauchet, "and yet having to replace the battery every so often is a real pain in the neck."
Click here for the full article.
posted by CS at 8:16 AM
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