Name: 鑽石核電池是永遠的 (Diamond Nuclear Batteries Are Forever)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:09:13.000Z
Duration: 4 min 33 s
Description: 【看影片學英語】數萬部 YouTube 影片，搭配英漢字典即點即查，輕鬆掌握單字發音與用法，長久累積看電影不必再看字幕。

Since the early 1900s, researchers have been
working on ways to turn radioactive material

into an electric current that lasts.. for
decades.

This class of batteries is known as betavoltaics,
and they're powered by the beta-decay of

Beta particles are basically just high-energy
electrons, so setting a beta-emitting material

up next to a semiconductor is virtually all
you need to get an electric current in motion.

Though their power output can be pretty low
(we're talkin' less than an AA battery),

they last as long as it takes the material
to decay.

And since radioactive materials can have half-lives
of centuries to millennia, that means batteries

that could last for decades without any noticeable
power loss.

As an aside, betavoltaics are different from
the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators

(or RTGs) that NASA uses for space missions.

Those are powered by the HEAT of radioactive
materials, like plutonium, instead of beta

particles directly—and are also sometimes
referred to as nuclear batteries.

But betavoltaics can be made smaller and safer
than RTGs, and with the incredibly long lifetimes

Back in 1954, the Radio Corporation of America
announced the development of their first betavoltaic

RCA imagined them being used in wristwatches,
hearing aids, and radios.

And in the February 1954 issue of LIFE magazine,
RCA even compared their invention to Edison's

But, while lightbulbs are literally everywhere,
I would wager you probably don't own a device

Today, betavoltaics are mainly used in deep
space and military applications- far away

And there are a lot of factors involved as
to why that is, but a big one is safety.

Like I said before, betavoltaics are safer
than other nuclear power systems, but some

beta-emitting materials can still be pretty
dangerous.

For example, RCA's prototype from 1954 ran
on Strontium-90, exposure to which can cause

And even though their battery was coated with
radiation blocking materials, it still probably

wasn't the safest thing to hand off to anyone
walking down the street.

In recent years, several research teams have
been looking for a way to safely harness the

And one team at the University of Bristol
is making one out of DIaMonDZ!

We talked to Dr. Neil Fox, who's developing
a new prototype made out of carbon-14, a naturally-occurring

radioisotope that's in our atmosphere and
in all living things..

It's also a common nuclear power plant waste
material.

[Dr. Neil Fox ] “So our research has really
been about looking for ways to repurpose that

material, so that it effectively can be recycled.

And carbon-14 is a particularly attractive
one because it's not really on the list

It's a fairly, friendly material to work
with..”

Fox's team isolated Carbon-14 and synthesized
a diamond out of it.

In doing so, they created a radioactive diamond
that could produce an electric current(!!).

Granted, it's a small one- not enough to
power your phone.

But it IS enough to power smoke detectors,
emergency signs, IoT devices, sensors in jet

engines or deep sea cables, and even e-readers.

And it could power all of those things for
decades, without needing to be replaced.

As for safety?--
[Dr. Neil Fox] “It is totally safe because

we're talking about a device which is made
of diamond.

The radioactive part is actually diamond as
well And all of the radiation, all of the

power of the device is completely absorbed
by the diamond structure around it.”

But perhaps one of the most impactful applications
of this battery is for medical implants.

Today, they largely rely on lithium ion batteries,
but those have limitations.

[Dr. Neil Fox ] "I mean there's some little
girl, she has to have some fairly intrusive

surgery on her hearing implant every 26 days
they have to change the battery on this thing…

We're constantly getting emails from people
who've got all sorts of implants…So if

you can provide them with a solution where
it's fitted to last for decades, even for

a lifetime, that's got to be worth something."

So, today's nuclear batteries might not
be what scientists imagined back in the 1950s,

but a nuclear diamond battery that could go
inside you?

For more on the science of batteries, check
out this playlist, and let us know down in

the comments if there are any other battery
topics you want us to cover!

As always, thanks for watching, and I'll
see you next time on Seeker.

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鑽石核電池是永遠的 (Diamond Nuclear Batteries Are Forever)

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