Diamonds are solid carbon formed into a crystal structure by the immense pressure of Earth’s crust above. Graphite is another chemically stable form of the element. Scientists at University of Bristol grew a diamond out of graphite in 2016 that produced a small electric current in a radioactive field. Therefore, tiny diamond batteries may not turn out as expensive as we might expect.
The Science Behind These Tiny Diamond Batteries
Graphite is a temperature moderator in many nuclear power stations. When operators withdraw the fuel rods from graphite they generate heat. Circulating water cools the moderator in turn. Chernobyl happened when operators turned the coolant off. The overheated reactor exploded throwing highly radioactive graphite into the air.
The nuclear industry does not have a permanent solution for nuclear waste from spent power stations. Bury it, they seem to say but this only makes it a future problem. Tiny diamond batteries grown from graphite explore a possibility for recycling some of this waste. The alpha version used Nickel-63 as radiation source. However, the Carbon-14 on the surface of the radioactive graphite blocks was another ready source.
New Batteries Made from Carbon Come to Life
The Bristol team first isolated the Carbon-14. Then they incorporated it as a synthetic diamond, presumably using the high-pressure high-temperature technique. The result was less radioactive than the average banana according to Forbes. However, there was a ‘power of a difference’.
The nuclear battery generated a small amount of electricity as the radioactive Carbon-14 within it decayed. Unlike most other electricity-generation methods, there are no moving parts in these tiny diamond batteries. Therefore, there are no emissions, and no maintenance requirements either according to South West Nuclear Hub.
Was this a tentative step into a truly green future with a thousand-year battery, we wonder? It might have been for all we know, although we have not heard more about it since the 2016 announcement.
Related
Origins of Graphite in Batteries
Pencils Conduct Electricity But How About Diamonds?
Preview Image: Synthetic Diamonds
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