Sustainable mobility went through EVs and is now focused on hydrogen as the fuel of the future. But what’s beyond engines and fuel cells? We’ve just learned of an invention that could change everything and take range to a new limit. This is the first-ever diamond battery, which lasts 28,000 years and has the potential to shatter the cars of the future.
The first diamond battery in history: everlasting autonomy and a strange material
Diamond batteries which are a newly developed energy storage system, harness the radioactive diamond crystals for their electrical power. They get their work done by amplifying the characteristic properties of diamond crystals, which were created from energy breakdown.
A diamond battery has a critical part, and it’s carbon-14. The carbon-14 atom is an unstable one as it disintegrates by releasing beta particles during the decaying process. Each time these particles interacts with the diamond crystalline geometry, simultaneously they generate a charge carrier which can result in a current electric.
These electrodes pass a current through diamond leading to the externally extracted current which can be used to run appliances and charge with the respective batteries. In contrast to chemical batteries that lose power during certain periods, diamond batteries are capable of a pretty long-term power availability.
This is explained by the fact that the radioactive decay of carbon-14 is a natural physical process, and it has its own inner mechanism that cannot be stopped or reversed like the clock. While the materials will remain intact, however, the diamond structure will still generate electrical charges in a different way.
28,000 years autonomy: massive record set by this diamond battery
Diamond batteries have an exceptionally long lifespan that far exceeds traditional battery technologies. While lithium-ion batteries may last only a few years and require frequent replacement, diamond batteries can continue functioning for over 28,000 years.
This extreme longevity results from the unique structure and composition of diamond batteries. Rather than using chemical reactions, they generate a small electrical current through radioactive decay. Radioactive isotopes of carbon-14 are incorporated inside lab-grown diamonds to create a stable energy source.
Since the radioactive decay occurs steadily, the diamond battery produces continuous energy for an extremely long time. Specifically, diamond batteries using carbon-14 are estimated to have a functional lifespan of around 28,000 years.
To put that in perspective, 28,000 years ago, Neolithic peoples were just beginning to transition from hunter-gatherer societies into early agrarian civilizations. This demonstrates the vast lifespan possible for a technology like the diamond battery avoiding nuclear chemical reactions.
The development history of this futuristic battery: non-nuclear performance
The diamond battery originated from research conducted at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. In 2016, physicists at the university published a paper showcasing the concept. They demonstrated that radioactive isotopes embedded in diamond emit beta particles that generate electricity with non-nuclear interactions.
The radioactive diamond converts waste into a power source with an extremely long lifespan. The physicists placed two layers of diamond with carbon-14 radioactive isotopes in the middle. The carbon-14 undergoes beta decay, releasing high energy electrons that generate a small electrical current.
The diamond’s lattice structure protects the radioactive material from leaking and amplifies the emitted charged particles. This makes diamond an ideal semiconductor material for a non-nuclear battery. After publishing their seminal research paper, the physicists continued to refine the technology with some corporations worldwide.
This diamond battery is not only unique in its composition, it is also unique in how it works. The fact that it does so without radioactivity is another step towards truly sustainable mobility, as other similar inventions have ended up with micro nuclear power plants under cars, an invention that is far from being environmentally friendly and would only cause more pollution.