Researchers at the Northwest Normal University, along with those at the Gansu Zhulong Technology in China, have built a new-generation nuclear battery using carbon-14 isotope and a silicon carbide (SiC) transducer. The new nuclear battery is a major improvement from its predecessor not just in terms of capacity but also since it was developed indigenously.
A nuclear battery, also known as radioisotope or atomic battery uses energy from the decay of the radioactive isotope inside it to generate electricity. Since half life of radioactive isotopes can run into few decades, if not centuries, a nuclear battery can remain active for much longer than its chemical counterparts.
This makes them ideal for deployment in spacecraft and remote environmental sensors, while also beneficial in medical implants, when suitable radioactive material can be used. Nuclear batteries have been deployed in deep space missions by NASA in its Voyager probes in 1977 and Mars Curiosity rover in 2012. China, too, has used nuclear batteries in its lunar mission rovers, Chang’e-3 and Chang’e-4.
Its recent success is a part of its strategy to build smaller, more powerful nuclear batteries that can serve industrial applications.
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