Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Laptop Batteries Lasting much longer




A laptop battery that can last for 30 years without single charge, "Amazing" isn't it. Development of this amazing and unique Technology is being funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. This amazing battery runs on betavoltaic power cells which are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years. laptop users now can use their batteries for as long as they wont not replacement needed.

The word Nuclear may raise some questions but these betavoltaic batteries cant be named as Nuclear ones, they neither use fission/fusion or chemical processes to produce energy and so do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste.

Betavoltaics Batteries generate power when an electron strikes a particular interface between two layers of material. The Process uses beta electron emissions that occur when a neutron decays into a proton which causes a forward bias in the semiconductor. This makes the betavoltaic cell a forward bias diode of sorts, similar in some respects to a photovoltaic (solar) cell. Electrons scatter out of their normal orbits in the semiconductor and into the circuit creating a usable electric current. All this Technology Talks is difficult to understand so in simple words these batteries are safe for laptop users

These batteries can be quite small and thin, a porous silicon material is used to collect the hydrogen isotope tritium which is generated in the process. The reaction is non-thermal which means laptops and other small devices like mobile phones will run much cooler than with traditional lithium-ion power batteries. The reason the battery lasts so long is that neutron beta-decay into protons is the world’s most concentrated source of electricity, truly demonstrating Einstein’s theory E=MC2.

Another advantage of these batteries are that if they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic, so environmentalists need not fear these high tech scientific wonder batteries. If further research produce good results we might find these batteries in two to three years

1 comment:

  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betavoltaics

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