Radioactive ‘diamond battery’ could power spacecraft for thousands of years

Scientists in the UK have successfully created the world’s first carbon-14 diamond battery, which could power low-energy devices like satellite communication equipment for over 5,000 years. The battery is made of the radioactive isotope carbon-14, encased in a thin layer of synthetic diamond. As the carbon-14 decays it emits electrons. The diamond acts like a semiconductor, converting these electrons into electricity. Since carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,700 years, scientists expect the battery to last for millennia.  The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the University of Bristol led the development, partly due to the former’s work on fusion energy.…

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