Nano-diamond battery that "lasts for 28k years" closer to commercialization

Lots of interesting stuff in the video's comments. Apparently their "advanced circuit board" is a regular charging board off AliExpress [0] with the micro USB port switched out for a transformer. Also, their investor pack [1] has no actual information on the power output of the batteries.

[0]: https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32703936097.html?trace=wwwdeta...

[1]: https://gofile.io/d/Iorhs5

The relevant number is its power of 100 µW.

Flagged this article, I also watched EEVBlog’s take on it and it sounds like complete bullshit.

Let’s not pollute the front page with this nonsense. Please flag this article.

You know you're in trouble when thunderf00t AND EEVblog debunk you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDFlV0OEK5E

And neither phones or similar, as they are not at all super low-power.

I wonder if it might work with thinks like air buds. Or if the constant energy required to make the sound for hours not stop is to high?

Right. It's a nuclear battery. "Within the DNV, radioisotopes are placed in a way that facilitates inelastic scattering originated due to the presence of a single crystalline diamond in the unit."

Nuclear batteries work fine, but the hazard problem and the PR problem limit their use. Here's a nuclear battery from the 1960s.[1] That used Krypton-86, which is a gas, so it will disperse if it gets out.

Worth thinking about for devices with very low duty cycles, like temperature sensors and smoke detectors.

The render of a chip is a joke. It's a battery. What would it need that many pins for?

[1] https://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/leesona_moos/nuclear_battery...

Sure thing.

"Micro-batteries Nuclear engineers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison have explored the possibilities of producing minuscule batteries which exploit radioactive nuclei of substances such as polonium or curium to produce electric energy. As an example of an integrated, self-powered application, the researchers have created an oscillating cantilever beam that is capable of consistent, periodic oscillations over very long time periods without the need for refueling. Ongoing work demonstrate that this cantilever is capable of radio frequency transmission, allowing MEMS devices to communicate with one another wirelessly.

These micro-batteries are very light and deliver enough energy to function as power supply for use in MEMS devices and further for supply for nanodevices.[12]

The radiation energy released is transformed into electric energy, which is restricted to the area of the device that contains the processor and the micro-battery that supplies it with energy."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_battery

I am skeptical but there is great potential in this.

Most of the discussion so far seems to be that there's no way to get sufficient energy density to power electric vehicles. But what they say is it provides "28,000 years of battery life for cell phones, aircraft, rockets, electric vehicles, sensors and other devices and machinery". I'm starting to wonder if they're just being a bit disingenuous rather than flat-out lying - could they mean the lower-power circuits of electric vehicles, rather than the motors turning the wheels?

It would be neat if it could power an 8-bit emulation for 100 years .. think about it: we want to keep old computing platforms around. We make an emulator, power it with this, and drop it out in the desert somewhere, guaranteeing that the lifeforms of the future get a chance to play some classic C64, Spectrum, Apple, Atari games, &etc.

Okay, so maybe I only need one of these devices. And isn't that always the problem with 'earth-shattering technology' - you only seem to need one or two of the thing?

Anyway I'm all for lower power computing using radiation to prolong the useful life of computing devices. Computers don't get old: users do. 28k years is a lot of users.

I think that ultimately trickle charging tech will be incorporated into all-electric mobile and definitely remote systems. Between intermittent loads and self discharge, you need something for station keeping of charge level.

This sounds like it might not be it, but trying to achieve virtue by association.

I’d think there is a massive risk to letting a consumer device ship with polonium in it, no matter how securely it is stored. A speck extracted from a device can kill a human.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvine...

From ages ago when I invested in Maxwell and some others:

Density increases about 6% a year. You can predict the earliest a tech can be commercialized by using the rule of 72. If it’s claiming to double capacity, it’s 12 years out (if ever).

What you may see is corners being cut to simplify manufacturing/improve safety, so it shows up in 5 years but only increases capacity by 35%.

We could do away with the battery itself and end up with supercapacitors. There's cool mods to replace car batteries with a permanent supercapacitor since it's perfect for the the crank with low density. Not good for extended use with electricity in the car though