this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
74 points (96.2% liked)

Technology

965 readers
15 users here now

A tech news sub for communists

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] D61@hexbear.net 26 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

innovative new power source that combines nickel-63 isotope decay and China’s first diamond semiconductor module. This integration allows the battery to be dramatically miniaturized while maintaining low production costs.

So the diamond semiconductor is the innovation?

At its core is the company’s unique ability to dope diamond, the holy grail of semiconductors, into large wafers only 10 micrometers thin. This enables the radioactive nickel to efficiently convert its decay into electricity.

Ahh... nifty.

Downside is... if these start getting used in "consumer" products.... that seems like there are gonna be problems with radioactive stuff concentrating in landfills and seat cushions and stuff.

Furthermore, atomic batteries are environmentally friendly. After the decay period, the radioactive source nickel-63 isotope transforms into stable copper isotopes, posing no threats, hazards, or pollution to the environment. Consequently, nuclear batteries do not require expensive recycling processes like existing chemical batteries

Well... that answers the previous issue.