
Nano-diamond battery that "lasts for 28k years" closer to commercialization - Solstinox
https://www.mining.com/nano-diamond-battery-that-lasts-for-28000-years-closer-to-becoming-commercial-product/
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josephcsible
EEVblog did a debunk of this at
[https://youtu.be/uzV_uzSTCTM](https://youtu.be/uzV_uzSTCTM)

Basically, the power density of these are so low that they're useless for most
applications. Sure, it might last 28,000 years, but you're only getting 100
microwatts from a battery the size of a normal AA battery.

~~~
notRobot
Lots of interesting stuff in the video's comments. Apparently their "advanced
circuit board" is a regular charging board off AliExpress [0] with the micro
USB port switched out for a transformer. Also, their investor pack [1] has no
actual information on the power output of the batteries.

[0]:
[https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32703936097.html?trace=wwwdeta...](https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32703936097.html?trace=wwwdetail2mobilesitedetail)

[1]: [https://gofile.io/d/Iorhs5](https://gofile.io/d/Iorhs5)

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ClumsyPilot
This is cool, but not actually new - we've had nuclear pacemakers for decades:
[https://uk.reuters.com/article/health-heart-pacemaker-
dc/nuc...](https://uk.reuters.com/article/health-heart-pacemaker-dc/nuclear-
pacemaker-still-energized-after-34-years-idUKN1960427320071219)

There is no need to be sceptical - this is obviously meant for super low-power
devices, not cars.

~~~
dathinab
And neither phones or similar, as they are not at all super low-power.

I wonder if it might work with thinks like air buds. Or if the constant energy
required to make the sound for hours not stop is to high?

~~~
ape4
Maybe a phone on standby - just listening for calls or something.

~~~
TheSoftwareGuy
A phone would still need a regular battery for normal operation. At that point
you can just use for everything

~~~
ape4
Good point, perhaps tiny IoT devices.

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Solstinox
Please don your skeptic hats before reading this article. I'm mainly
fascinated that companies with such extraordinary claims can survive or even
get enough backing to exist.

~~~
StreamBright
Sure thing.

"Micro-batteries Nuclear engineers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison
have explored the possibilities of producing minuscule batteries which exploit
radioactive nuclei of substances such as polonium or curium to produce
electric energy. As an example of an integrated, self-powered application, the
researchers have created an oscillating cantilever beam that is capable of
consistent, periodic oscillations over very long time periods without the need
for refueling. Ongoing work demonstrate that this cantilever is capable of
radio frequency transmission, allowing MEMS devices to communicate with one
another wirelessly.

These micro-batteries are very light and deliver enough energy to function as
power supply for use in MEMS devices and further for supply for
nanodevices.[12]

The radiation energy released is transformed into electric energy, which is
restricted to the area of the device that contains the processor and the
micro-battery that supplies it with energy."

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_battery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_battery)

I am skeptical but there is great potential in this.

~~~
7thaccount
Isn't there an entire general term for this? I recall looking into beta-
voltaics in college.

~~~
fit2rule
Yes indeed, energy harvesting SMD's are the thing:

[https://www.tdk-
electronics.tdk.com/download/2427688/6fa9508...](https://www.tdk-
electronics.tdk.com/download/2427688/6fa95084f0dd78caac95dcb8f051082a/06-dl---
ceracharge-presentation.pdf)

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fortran77
It's 100 microwatts, and there are other nuclear-decay based betavoltaic
batteries on the market, including some used to power pacemakers.

See
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_battery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_battery)

It may be a nice product, but it's not new, revolutionary, or unique.

~~~
fit2rule
It would be neat if it could power an 8-bit emulation for 100 years .. think
about it: we want to keep old computing platforms around. We make an emulator,
power it with this, and drop it out in the desert somewhere, _guaranteeing_
that the lifeforms of the future get a chance to play some classic C64,
Spectrum, Apple, Atari games, &etc.

Okay, so maybe I only need one of these devices. And isn't that always the
problem with 'earth-shattering technology' \- you only seem to need one or two
of the thing?

Anyway I'm all for lower power computing using radiation to prolong the useful
life of computing devices. Computers don't get old: users do. 28k years is a
lot of users.

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adrianmonk
I share the skepticism here. Regardless, here are some more-direct sources of
info.

NDB's web site: [https://ndb.technology/](https://ndb.technology/)

NDB's recent press release:
[https://www.prweb.com/releases/ndb_inc_announces_major_techn...](https://www.prweb.com/releases/ndb_inc_announces_major_technological_laboratory_breakthrough_for_the_first_universal_self_charging_nano_diamond_battery_first_beta_customers/prweb17347911.htm)

In the press release, you can see the company itself is making the
extraordinary claims about applications like electric vehicles and aircraft.
(That is, it's not an embellishment by whoever wrote the mining.com article.)

~~~
hinkley
I think that ultimately trickle charging tech will be incorporated into all-
electric mobile and definitely remote systems. Between intermittent loads and
self discharge, you need something for station keeping of charge level.

This sounds like it might not be it, but trying to achieve virtue by
association.

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aj7
Ridiculous. Somebody is trying to raise money from naive people. Sometimes my
cell phone gets hot enough that a cat would want to sleep on it.

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KindOne
Discussion on reddit two days ago, 350+ comments.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/iiedk4/energy_f...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/iiedk4/energy_firm_says_its_nuclearwaste_fueled_diamond/)

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ur-whale
This _really_ sounds like pure snake oil: a ton of buzzwords, diamonds and
nukes to make it sound exciting and cool, an unbelievably long period of power
release (how can they even test that their claim is true ?).

I'd pass until one of those devices has been tested by a slew of independent
labs and confirmed to at least deliver the claimed power density.

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axaxs
I can't imagine a world where cell phones don't have chargers...and battery
life indicators are a thing of the past. Such a surreal thought.

That said, would it be wrong to worry about the dangers of this? I mean, cell
phone batteries today spew fire if you puncture them. This tech has to have
massive potential energy, can it fail similarly?

~~~
joezydeco
I’d think there is a massive risk to letting a consumer device ship with
polonium in it, no matter how securely it is stored. A speck extracted from a
device can kill a human.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvine...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko)

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ohitsdom
A battery breakthrough is always 3-5 years away from coming to market.

~~~
hinkley
From ages ago when I invested in Maxwell and some others:

Density increases about 6% a year. You can predict the earliest a tech can be
commercialized by using the rule of 72. If it’s claiming to double capacity,
it’s 12 years out (if ever).

What you may see is corners being cut to simplify manufacturing/improve
safety, so it shows up in 5 years but only increases capacity by 35%.

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deepnotderp
It seems the key challenge with the general technology of atomic batteries is
power density. Is there any chance that might be solved?

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mrkstu
It seems the best applications would be ones with periodic need of more power
and feeding the capacitor from the battery.

~~~
Waterfall
We could do away with the battery itself and end up with supercapacitors.
There's cool mods to replace car batteries with a permanent supercapacitor
since it's perfect for the the crank with low density. Not good for extended
use with electricity in the car though

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m3kw9
Oh that’s why they didn’t provide any numbers except 28k years

