Chinese battery manufacturer Beijing Betavolt New Energy Technology has reportedly developed a nuclear-powered coin cell that can last up to 50 years without charging or maintenance.
The technology converts decaying radioactive nickel-63, an isotope of nickel, into electricity as it decays into stable copper. Because it turns into copper, the company says the cell’s environmental impacts and need for costly recycling processes is minimised.
The technology uses a two-micron thick nickel-63 core sandwiched between two 10-micron thick diamond semiconductors.
The company first announced its BV100 nuclear battery early in 2024. The cell measures 15 x 15 x 5 millimeters and generates 100 microwatts of power at 3V. Its energy density is reportedly 3,300 milliwatt-hours per gram and it can operate from -60°C to +120°C without self-discharge.
Because of its relative low power output, the cell would need to be used in series to power consumable electronics such as laptops. The company plans to launch a one-watt version of the cell later this year.
“Betavolt atomic energy batteries can meet the needs of long-lasting power supply in multiple scenarios, such as aerospace, AI equipment, medical equipment, microprocessors, advanced sensors, small drones and micro-robots”, the firm said in a press release.
The breakthrough puts Betavolt at the forefront of the race to commercialise nuclear batteries. A race that includes organisations from China, the US, and Europe.
In June last year, California, US-based Infinity Power announced it had developed a nuclear coin cell which also uses Nickel-63
The same month, Scientists at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology in China announced they’d developed a betavoltaic cell which generates power when beta-ray electrons emitted from radioisotopes (such as carbon, nickel, and hydrogen) hit a semiconductor.
In 2017, a team from the University of Bristol in the UK developed a man-made diamond that, when placed in a radioactive field, was able to generate a small electrical current. The team used Nickel-63 as the radiation source.
Then last December, a team from the University of Bristol and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) announced they’d successfully created the world’s first carbon-14 diamond battery.
The power source uses the radioactive decay of carbon-14, which has a half-life of 5,700 years, to generate low levels of power. It converts light into electricity by capturing fast-moving electrons from within the diamond structure.
