[greydragon]

Just found this unbelievable site that talks about betavoltaic batteries. These sci-fi batteries can supposedly run continuously for 30 years without charging. Site says it'll be available to market in two to three years.... just think about the possibilities of portable electronics, especially dacs & amplifiers!

 

[GAD]

Pretty cool. Forget about amps - kid's toys!

GAD

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I read somewhere that this is actually fake. Sorry, no link.

Biggie.

 

[33Leon]

NT

 

[ken36]

I would pay extra. A lot extra.

 

[marvin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33Leon /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's a total hoax. Betavoltaic batteries have been made, but not to power a laptop, not to power much of anything actually.

Pretty much true. The application types they're currently looking into are low constant current drain applications like pacemakers and powered optical gunsights. High, irregular load applications like laptops are a very bad application for this sort of battery technology. But hey, it's tech journalism by people who don't understand the tech. This sort of nonsense is to be expected.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33Leon /img/forum/go_quote.gif The big problem they have is radioactive half-life. If the amount of electrons leaving the isotope is constantly declining, how can the battery maintain a constant output? It can't.

Tritium decays at 5.47% a year. Given how this technology works (rather like PV cells), it comes out to about the same percentage in current drop a year. To maintain a specified current output level for ten years, initial current capacity would need to be 1.7x the specified current. Not a big deal when increasing current capacity just means putting more tritium in the gas tube.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33Leon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now, the fun stuff. It mentions tritium being created down the bottom of the article. You can't make tritium in any significant quantity unless you have a fission reactor kicking about in your back yard, that's why it's worth $25,000 a gram.

Yep, factual issue. Tritium isn't generated, rather it decays into Helium in the gas tube of a betavoltaic cell. The silicon mentioned collects beta particles, not atoms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33Leon /img/forum/go_quote.gif "when they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic" Ignoring the fact that they will never exist as described, Tritium happens to be another radioactive isotope, not very radioactive, that's why it's used on gunsights and used to be used on watches, but if you were to smash one of these non-existant things open, you'd actually get the classical glowing green radioactive slag

Tritium is much lighter than air. When you crack a tritium tube, the tritium will evacuate the tube ASAP, leaving you with pretty much nothing.

Course, tritium doesn't glow...

 

[augustwest]

"I would pay extra. A lot extra."

You're right, you likely would. I can't imagine them being very inexpensive.

- augustwest

 

[lini]

Apropos impressive battery life: I really wonder who originally produced the two Casio labeled AAs in my good old Casio FX-100 calculator - I've bought that thingy in 1983, and it's still running on its original batteries (just tried again for a quick check). 24 years now, and still working - not bad for a pair of standard AAs, I'd say. I'll report back in another 6 years!

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Their first commercial application will be in smoke alarms that accidently get drywalled in houses.

 

[GAD]

Stupid physics keeps me buying AA's....

grumble...

GAD

 

[Sarchi]

As the old saying goes, "liars, damned liars, and battery engineers."

In 40 years since we put a man on the moon, there still aren't viable battery cars to get us off the fossil fuel teet. Hmmmm.

 

[flashnolan]

I would find it hard to believe that a site from the Netherlands would be one of the first to report on highly technical batteries developed by the US Air Force Research Laboratory. If the AFRL did create such a product a small Netherlands website would be one of the last to get the new scoop and report about it.