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Title: Scintillator based nuclear photovoltaic batteries for power generation at microwatts level

Journal Article · · Optical Materials: X
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); AwareAbility Technologies, LLC, Columbus, OH (United States)
  2. University of Toledo, OH (United States)
  3. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)
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A nuclear photovoltaic battery uses scintillator to convert radiation into visible light, which is then collected by a photovoltaic (PV) cell to generate electricity. If the radiation is gamma-rays emitted from external sources, the battery may also be referred as gammavoltaic battery. In this study, a polycrystalline CdTe solar cell was optically coupled with a 2.0 cm × 2.0 cm × 1.0 cm Gadolinium Aluminum Gallium Garnet (GAGG) scintillator, and the resulting device was tested using intense gamma radiation fields from a Cs-137 (1.5 kRad/h) and a Co-60 (10 kRad/h) irradiator. Measurements with Cs-137 provided a maximum power output (Pmax) of ~288 nW, with a short-circuit current density (Jsc) of ~1.22 μA/cm2 and an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of ~0.34 V. In contrast, Co-60 irradiator gave a Pmax of 1.5 μW, with a Jsc of ~4.73 μA/cm2 and a Voc of ~0.38 V. The CdTe was also paired with a Lutetium-Yttrium Oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystal and tested with the Cs-137 source. The experiment presents a scalable option to reach to higher power outputs by harvesting gamma radiation fields in many cases where high radiation field demands heavy shielding and is often regarded as unwanted waste.

Research Organization:
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0003921
OSTI ID:
2507358
Journal Information:
Optical Materials: X, Journal Name: Optical Materials: X Vol. 25; ISSN 2590-1478
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (9)

Attenuation characteristics of a Ce:Gd3Al2Ga3O12 scintillator
  • Uchida, Nagomi; Takahashi, Hiromitsu; Ohno, Masanori
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 986 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2020.164725
journal January 2021
20%-efficient polycrystalline Cd(Se,Te) thin-film solar cells with compositional gradient near the front junction journal December 2022
Isoelectronic aluminum-doped gallium nitride alpha-voltaic cell with efficiency exceeding 4.5% journal July 2023
InGaP alpha voltaic batteries: Synthesis, modeling, and radiation tolerance journal January 2006
LuAG:Ce fibers for high energy calorimetry journal July 2010
High efficiency 4H-SiC betavoltaic power sources using tritium radioisotopes journal January 2016
The Electron-Voltaic Effect in p − n Junctions Induced by Beta-Particle Bombardment journal January 1954
Construction of a promethium-147 atomic battery journal January 1964
Gamma-ray irradiation effects on CdTe solar cell dosimeter journal January 2021

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Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
Cadmium telluride
GAGG
Gamma-rays
LYSO
Nuclear battery
Nuclear photovoltaic battery
Power conversion efficiency
Power output
Scintillator