Diamond batteries...

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,219

"An alkaline AA battery weighs about 20 grams, has an energy density storage rating of 700 Joules/gram, and [uses] up this energy if operated continuously for about 24 hours," Scott said in an interview with Digital Trends. "A diamond beta-battery containing 1 gram of C14 will deliver 15 Joules per day, and will continue to produce this level of output for 5,730 years — so its total energy storage rating is 2.7 TeraJ."
 

BobTPH

Joined Jun 5, 2013
8,813
The calculation in that quote is off by a factor of 10^5.

15 J per day for 5730 years is:

15 x 5370 x 365 = 31,000,000 or 31 MJ, not 2.7 TJ.

Bob
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,219
I just realized that the article dates back to 2016. I would've expected significant progress by now, if said technology were viable.

I guess it's going to be yet another pipe dream that goes up in smoke and into oblivion.
 

MrSalts

Joined Apr 2, 2020
2,767
Another case of giving crackpot science more oxygen (more cross-posts on the internet). A few key strokes on a calculator is all it takes as shown above by other members. Critical reading/critical thinking doesn't take an expert, it just takes the smallest bit of effort. Even less than creating this thread.
 

MrSalts

Joined Apr 2, 2020
2,767
I just realized that the article dates back to 2016. I would've expected significant progress by now, if said technology were viable.

I guess it's going to be yet another pipe dream that goes up in smoke and into oblivion.
Pipedream? More like clickbait that is making the creator's YouTube account a nice revenue stream thanks to people cross-posting the article and getting even more views.
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,219
Pipedream? More like clickbait that is making the creator's YouTube account a nice revenue stream thanks to people cross-posting the article and getting even more views.
Well, it seems that the jury is still out there on this one. It's obvious that the original article was badly written and put together.

But here's a much more recent, and better article explaining the technology.




Arkenlight hasn’t made a betavoltaic cell using reformed nuclear waste yet, and Boardman says its nuclear diamond battery still has a few more years of refinement in the lab before it’s ready to hit the streets. But the tech is already attracting interest from the space and nuclear industries. Boardman says Arkenlight recently received a contract from the European Space Agency to develop diamond batteries for what he described as “satellite RFID tags,” which would put out a weak radio signal to identify a satellite for thousands of years.
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
Another case of giving crackpot science more oxygen (more cross-posts on the internet)
Just my opinion here, but it seems like AAC has gotten more and more "crack pot' members posting things in the last few years. Not long time members like cmartinez posting this, but those coming here as new members, posting strange theory.
 

Thread Starter

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,219
Just my opinion here, but it seems like AAC has gotten more and more "crack pot' members posting things in the last few years. Not long time members like cmartinez posting this, but those coming here as new members, posting strange theory.
Thanks for clarifying, shortbus. Whenever I post "fringe" articles such as this, I always do it with the intention of learning something from it. That is, my intention is not only to share the article, but also to learn what other respected members of this place think about it. The debate can get quite interesting and there can be plenty of interesting insights most of the time.

If the article turns out to be junk science, then it's also a win-win situation, the way I see it. That's because it is in places like this one that such things can be objectively debunked and not just dismissed out of hand without bothering to explain why.
 

dcbingaman

Joined Jun 30, 2021
1,065
This makes me think about the idea of extracting 'all' of the energy out of say 1Kg of matter. It is theoretically possible but not realistic, but even if we could do it with even 20% efficiency our energy problems would be solved:

For a 1Kg mass:
E=1Kg*(3E8)^2 joules or 9E16 joules of energy. Consider a 1200W space heater, this would provide enough energy to keep it going for 2,378 years!

9E16J/1200J/s for 2,378 Years!

Explains why nuclear power is such a good thing. It also shows that our technology is very primitive compared to what could be accomplished.
 
Last edited:

dcbingaman

Joined Jun 30, 2021
1,065
Still, if it doesn't work the point is moot.
IMHO the general theory is still correct. Now granted maybe the diamond battery idea is moot but there is still an enormous amount of energy reserves within nuclear waste. That is the entire reason why it is a problem to begin with. When Chernobyl became a problem even concrete structures where being wasted away due to the energy release by the so called nuclear fuel/nuclear waste. As if the nuclear waste was not giving out energy? There is energy to be taken advantage of, the fact that we have not developed a technology to get to it does not change the fact that it remains there to be taken advantage of.

According to the US government: 90% of the available energy remains in nuclear waste per the cited article attached.

Yes I know, all of the nuclear fuel in Chernobyl has not met the criteria a the time as 'nuclear waste' but it did cause serious containment problems. So maybe that is not a perfect example.

What is interesting is number 5 in the following article about 'nuclear waste':

https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/5-fast-facts-about-spent-nuclear-fuel

The following article is even more fascinating to me. It appears nuclear power could make solar and wind look like a walk in the park with improved technologies and even take advantage of the enormous remaining power of 'nuclear waste':

https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/3-advanced-reactor-systems-watch-2030
 
Last edited:

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
One of the problems I have, is where is the electricity being generated from? What is the mechanism? Theory matters. Just declaring something is so is not good enough.
 
Top