Mobile Batteries Made from Recycled Nuclear Waste May Soon Be Available
Wednesday, February 5, 2020 - 15:30:32
The issue of what to do with the radioactive material that is created as waste by nuclear power plants in many parts of the world is often debated, but now researchers at the University of Bristol have come up with a concept which could actually make it possible to recycle these dangerous substances rather than simply storing them to prevent environmental contamination.
The Independent reports that the team has worked out a way to convert the nuclear waste into so-called ‘diamond batteries’ which might one day be found inside mobile phones and thousands of other gadgets that require a portable source of power.
The batteries are constructed by taking radioactive isotopes out of plant-based blocks of carbon and then adding these to microscopically slender slivers of diamond which are then ready to output energy.
Experts claim that the resultant cells are able to keep on generating electricity almost indefinitely, which will mean that the mobile phones which adopt this technology could never need to be recharged, or at least not within the lifespan of the rest of the handset.
Of course, there are plenty of other applications for a battery which offers power which is effectively infinite, such as keeping pacemakers up and running for decades and even providing the energy needed to explore deep space without relying on solar power to charge ship systems and keep any occupants alive.
At the time of writing the diamond batteries produced with nuclear waste are only able to output relatively low levels of power, meaning that they are not yet perfected enough to enter the mobile market. However, researchers are convinced that this will one day be a possibility, which would make the mobile industry far more sustainable and also impact lots of other marketplaces.
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