Advancement Of Tritium Powered Betavoltaic Battery Systems

Technical Report · Wed Oct 14 00:00:00 EDT 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1224032· OSTI ID:1224032

Staack, G. ^[1]; Gaillard, J. ^[1]; Hitchcock, D. ^[1]; Peters, B. ^[1]; Colon-Mercado, H. ^[1]; Teprovich, J. ^[1]; Coughlin, J. ^[1]; Neikirk, K. ^[1]; Fisher, C. ^[1]

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1. Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

Due to their decades-long service life and reliable power output under extreme conditions, betavoltaic batteries offer distinct advantages over traditional chemical batteries, especially in applications where frequent battery replacement is hazardous, or cost prohibitive. Although many beta emitting isotopes exist, tritium is considered ideal in betavoltaic applications for several reasons: 1) it is a “pure” beta emitter, 2) the beta is not energetic enough to damage the semiconductor, 3) it has a moderately long half-life, and 4) it is readily available. Unfortunately, the widespread application of tritium powered betavoltaics is limited, in part, by their low power output. This research targets improving the power output of betavoltaics by increasing the flux of beta particles to the energy conversion device (the p-n junction) through the use of low Z nanostructured tritium trapping materials.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-08SR22470
• OSTI ID: 1224032
• Report Number(s): SRNL-STI-2015-00544
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English