World’s First Carbon-14 Diamond Battery:
Scientists from the University of Bristol and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) have created the world’s first carbon-14 diamond battery.
- It a carbon-14 diamond battery, a strange fusion of radioactive decay, synthetic diamonds and plasma chemistry.
- It uses carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon of half-life of 5,700, because it emits a short-range radiation, quickly absorbed by any solid material.
- It functions similarly to solar panels but instead of using light particles, it captures fast-moving electrons from within the diamond structure.
- It can prove particularly helpful in healthcare where it can be used to power pacemakers, hearing aids, and ocular devices. Patients won’t need to replace batteries as the diamond battery can last for years.
- The battery could also be used in extreme environments – both in space and on earth – where it is not practical to replace conventional batteries.
- They can also prove to be of great help in space missions without worrying about the power to replace or charge the power source of spacecrafts.
