Nuclear battery, also known as "radioisotope battery", is made by converting the thermal energy continuously released by isotopes and radiated thermal energy into electrical energy through a semiconductor transducer. Nuclear batteries have been successfully used as power sources for spacecraft, pacemakers and some special military purposes.
catalogue
brief introduction
principle
Appearance structure
merits and demerits
disadvantaged
type
Use heartbeat adjustment device
satellite
Underwater monitor and submarine cable relay station.
Apollo (spaceship)
develop
purpose
Brief introduction of accident
principle
Appearance structure
merits and demerits
disadvantaged
type
Use heartbeat adjustment device
satellite
Underwater monitor and submarine cable relay station.
Apollo (spaceship)
develop
purpose
Introduction and editing of this accident deployment
On June 10, 2009, according to the BBC website, researchers successfully developed a coin-sized "nuclear battery" to generate electricity through isotope decay. The research results are published in the latest issue of Journal of Applied Physics and other scientific journals.
Principles for editing this paragraph
It is understood that when radioactive substances decay, charged particles can be released, and if used correctly, current can be generated. Usually unstable (radioactive) nuclei will decay and become more stable after emitting particles and energy. Nuclear batteries are made by using the principle that radioactive materials will release energy when they decay. Nuclear batteries have been used in military or aerospace fields before, but they are often large. Small nuclear battery
In the past, a major difficulty in battery research and development was that in order to improve performance, the size of the battery was often larger than the product itself. The research team led by Quan Zaiwan, a professor of computer engineering at the University of Missouri, successfully slimmed down the "nuclear battery" and developed a small but powerful "nuclear battery". The nuclear battery developed by Professor Quan Zaiwan is only slightly larger than 1 cent coin (diameter 1 .95cm, thickness1.55mm), but its power is ten thousand times that of ordinary chemical batteries. The research team of the University of Missouri said that the purpose of developing small nuclear batteries is to find suitable energy for micro-electromechanical systems or nano-electromechanical systems. How to find a small enough energy source device for micro-nano electromechanical system is a hot spot in the field of micro-device research. Another attraction of nuclear batteries is that isotopes that provide electric energy work for a very long time, which may even reach 5000 years. Imagine that in the near future, you only need a battery the size of a coin, and your mobile phone can be used without charging for 5000 years. The research team led by Professor Quan Zaiwan has also realized the reform of battery chips. The radioactive energy emitted when using a nuclear battery may damage the solid chip structure inside the battery, but the use of liquid chips after loading overcomes this problem to the maximum extent.
Edit the appearance structure of this paragraph.
General nuclear batteries are similar in appearance to ordinary dry batteries, and they are all cylindrical. The radioisotope source is sealed in the center of the cylinder, and the thermionic transducer or thermocouple transducer is arranged outside. The outer layer of the transducer is a radiation shielding layer, and the outermost layer is a metal cylindrical shell.
Advantages and disadvantages of editing this paragraph
superiority
The magnitude and speed of energy released by nuclear battery when it decays are not affected by temperature, chemical reaction, pressure and electromagnetic field in the external environment. Isotopes powered by nuclear batteries work for a very long time, which may even reach 5000 years.
disadvantaged
Radioactive pollution must be properly protected; Moreover, once the battery is installed, whether it is used or not, with the decay of radioactive sources, the electrical performance will decline.
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Nuclear batteries can be divided into two types: high voltage type and low voltage type. High-voltage nuclear battery is made of a substance containing β -ray source (strontium -90 or tritium), and nickel is coated with a thin carbon layer with a vacuum or solid medium in the middle. The test battery with tritium as radioactive source has a diameter of 9.5 mm and a length of13.5 mm. The current at 500 volts is 160 picoamps, and 12 years decreases by 50% (if strontium -90 is used, it will decrease by 50% in 25 years). Low-voltage nuclear batteries can be divided into three types: thermopile type, gas ionization type and fluorescence-photoelectric type. The principle of thermopile is the same as that of thermoelectric generator with radioactive isotope as heat source, so it is also called isotope thermoelectric generator. Gas ionization type nuclear battery uses radioactive source to ionize the gas between two electrode materials with different work functions, and then collects carriers at two poles to obtain electric energy. This kind of battery has higher power. Fluorescent-photoelectric nuclear battery uses radiation generated by radioactive isotope decay to excite fluorescent substances to emit light, and then uses photoelectric conversion board (solar panel) to convert fluorescence into electric energy. This kind of battery is inefficient.
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Heartbeat regulating device
The fuel used for radioisotope energy of artificial heart is plutonium -238.
satellite
Satellites invited to travel in space have very strict requirements for power supply, such as light weight, small volume, strong vibration resistance and long service life. Therefore, several Jupiter probes launched abroad in the early 1970s were equipped with high-performance nuclear batteries made of plutonium oxide and molybdenum. The Mars probe launched later was also equipped with a similar nuclear battery. satellite
Radioisotope batteries are also installed on the meteorological satellite Yu Yun. This meteorological satellite orbits the earth, which can be used to take cloud pictures or to survey and study the topography of the atmosphere and the earth's surface. Pioneer, a satellite that explored Jupiter, installed four 30-watt radioisotope batteries. 1976, the Mars satellite ship Viking successfully landed on the surface of Mars, and two 35-watt radioisotope batteries were placed on this satellite ship.
Underwater monitor and submarine cable relay station.
In the deep sea, solar cells are useless, and others, such as fuel cells and chemical cells, have too short lives. Therefore, nuclear batteries have been used as power sources for underwater monitors and submarine cable relay stations to monitor the activities and communications of enemy submarines.
Apollo (spaceship)
On July 2, 9691,65438, man successfully landed on the moon for the first time, using Apollo1/spaceship. On Apollo 1 1 spacecraft, two radioisotope devices were installed, the thermal power of which was 15 watts, and the fuel used was plutonium -238. The radioisotope device on Apollo 1 1 is used to heat the spacecraft when it stays overnight on the surface of the moon, that is, it is only used to provide heat source. Therefore, the device is also called ALRH (Apollo Lunar Riheater) device, which means the radioisotope heater used by Apollo on the moon. However, on the Apollo spacecraft launched later to explore the surface of the moon, all radioisotope devices were installed for power generation. This is the SNAP-27A device. The fuel it uses is plutonium -238, the designed power output is 63.5 watts, the weight of the whole device is 3 1 kg, and the design life is one year. Mainly to do a series of scientific experiments for Apollo lunar exploration. Snap-27a device, the radioisotope battery first loaded on Apollo 12 spacecraft, has a life far exceeding the one year considered in the design, and can continuously supply more than 70 watts of power, fully meeting the expected design requirements. Because of the success of this experiment, the SNAP-27A device was installed on Apollo/KOOC-0/4 launched in/KOOC-0/970, and on the following spacecraft, such as Apollo/KOOC-0/5, Apollo/KOOC-0/6 and Apollo/KOOC-0/7.
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Although small nuclear batteries have been used in the aerospace field for a long time, they are rarely used on the earth due to size restrictions. Most nuclear batteries intercept charged particles through solid-state semiconductors. Because of the high capacity of particles, semiconductors will be damaged over time. In order to make the battery last for a long time, the nuclear battery is made very large. But with the development of science and technology. On June 5,438+1 October, 2009, the research team of the University of Missouri announced that it had developed a miniature "nuclear battery" whose appearance is only the size of a coin (diameter 1.95cm, thickness 1.55mm) and its service life is 0/10,000 times that of an ordinary battery.
The purpose of editing this paragraph
Find suitable energy for MEMS or nano-MEMS.
Edit this incident
During the Cold War, the US government often made plutonium Cassini detectors that could last for decades.
Over the years, people have built dozens of nuclear batteries to drive satellites, planetary detectors and spy equipment, but there have also been accidents, releasing harmful substances and endangering the whole world. 1964, the launch vehicle of a navigation satellite broke down, which led to the explosion of the plutonium nuclear battery on the satellite and the release of radioactive materials scattered all over the world, which attracted people's attention to the application of plutonium. 1965, a group of American intelligence teams in the Himalayas lost a plutonium power plant in a snowstorm to monitor China. 1968, an out-of-orbit meteorological satellite crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately, federal investigators found a complete nuclear battery in California. 1997, when NASA was preparing to launch the Cassini Saturn probe, hundreds of demonstrators protested, pointing out that in the event of an accident, the nuclear battery of the probe would have a chance to explode, eventually leading to thousands of deaths from cancer. Authorities experts now point out that the latest plutonium nuclear battery can prevent rupture and reduce the chance of harm to human beings to a very low level.