Water-Based Nuclear Battery May Power Vehicles and Spacecraft in the Future

Batteries power cell phones, cars, flashlights and other devices. Now, scientists may have come up with a water-based solution for powering electronics. They've created a long-lasting and more efficient nuclear battery that could be used in applications that range from automobiles to spacecraft.

"Betavoltaics, a battery technology that generates power from radiation, has been studied as an energy source since the 1950s," said Jae Kwon, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Controlled nuclear technologies are not inherently dangerous. We already have many commercial uses of nuclear technologies in our lives including fire detectors in bedrooms and emergency exit signs in buildings."

The new battery actually uses a radioactive isotope called strontium-90. This isotope boosts electrochemical energy in a water-based solution. Then, a nanostructured titanium dioxide electrode, which is a common element found in sunscreens and UV blockers, with a platinum coating collects and effectively converts energy into electrons.

"Water acts as a buffer and surface plasmons created in the device turned out to be very useful in increasing its efficiency," said Kwon. "The ionic solution is not easily frozen at very low temperatures and could work in a wide variety of applications including car batteries and, if packaged properly, perhaps spacecraft."

Currently, these batteries still need to undergo testing before they're placed in any actual devices. Yet they do represent a possible way to efficiently power vehicles and other devices.  Whether these batteries will be able to be used in something like spacecraft, though, remains to be seen.

The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.