imagine buying a new smartphone
automobile laptop or other electrical
gadget and not having to worry about it
needing to be charged with the
development of a new form of battery
that uses nuclear waste from reactors to
generate electricity which can then be
used to power all electronic gadgets
this is now achievable a single charge
of these batteries will keep them
running for more than 28
000 years cars powered by electricity
are reshaping the landscape automobiles
powered by batteries are quickly
overtaking gas-powered models as the
preferred mode of transportation for
many automakers and toyota is at the
forefront of this development join us as
we examine how toyota finally reveals
the new nuclear diamond battery
technology would be incomplete without
batteries the vast majority of the
electronic devices we own today make use
of them despite their importance there
have been few developments in this unit
over the years in contrast the battery
core hasn't changed in decades lithium
and other related chemicals are used in
the same way alternatives to lithium-ion
batteries are now readily available
they're expected to take their place
electronic devices in the years to come
improved charging time capacity and
reduced size are all advantages of this
technology the holy grail of battery
technology is being sought by a slew of
automakers and other businesses
including at toyota toyota has several
new improvements in the works that will
expand the range of vehicles available
to drivers seeking to reduce their
carbon footprint toyota is at the
forefront of battery technology
development and its self-charging hybrid
electric batteries have given the
company over two decades of battery
experience
solid-state battery electric vehicles
which they've been working on for a few
years are the next big game changer in
the sustainable driving and have been
alongside their hybrid electric light
battery electric vehicles bevs are
becoming increasingly popular around the
world but the fire hazards and quick
degradation associated with ev batteries
have turned off some potential buyers it
was last year that gm and hyundai had to
recall their electric vehicles because
of complaints of fires caused by
batteries manufactured by lg energy
solution bvs require hours to charge and
quick charging methods might cause the
battery cells to overheat resulting in
degeneration as a result cruising range
decreases over time lowering a vehicle's
resale value solid-state battery
technology from toyota helps the company
balance these three factors range
deterioration and charging speed so what
exactly is solid state battery
technology solid state batteries as the
name implies use solid electrolytes
instead of liquid ones in terms of size
and thickness their prototype batteries
are comparable to a thin spiral bound
notepad the short range along charging
times of electric vehicles powered by
conventional lithium-ion batteries may
be alleviated with the development of
solid-state battery technology
sulfur-based electrolytes are a more
efficient alternative to lithium-ion
batteries and toyota is focusing on
employing them in their prototypes
because of this reduce the risk of fires
and increase the battery's energy
density compared to lithium-ion
next-generation batteries like solid
state and metal air are safer and more
efficient the coolant in toyota's
batteries developed in collaboration
with panasonic corporation is supposed
to make them less susceptible to
electricity flow in the event of a leak
the battery packs are designed to keep
the cells and coolant separate more than
90 percent of the new bev batteries
capacity will remain after a decade
thanks to these and other advancements
as the first business to mass build a
viable solid-state battery toyota plans
to deliver an electric vehicle equipped
with a solid-state battery by the
mid-2020s
in terms of the end user what does this
mean
700 kilometers on a single battery
charge it takes about 10 to 15 minutes
to go from a 0 to 100 charged all of
which can be done with a minimum risk to
one's health or safety for electric
vehicles and the industry as a whole
toyota's new solid-state battery
represents a game changer it's expected
that solid-state battery vehicles will
be able to travel more than twice as far
as a conventional lithium-ion
battery-powered vehicle under the same
circumstances achieved in the most
compact vehicle without losing interior
room by utilizing modern lithium-ion and
solid-state technology toyota intends to
raise battery efficiency by 30 percent
and lower battery cost by the same
amount in the near future for all of its
bevs by the second half of the 2020s the
business expects significant
improvements that will increase
efficiency and reduce bv production
costs by half the nuclear diamond
battery could be the solution to
everything the battery is on a
completely different level and it could
change the world there's talk of never
dead batteries according to the san
francisco-based company the high power
diamond based beta alpha and neutron
voltaic battery it's capable of
providing gadgets with long lasting and
environmentally friendly energy which
would change the game ndb claims to have
created a nuclear waste derived
self-powered battery with a life
expectancy of 28 000 years making it
ideal for your next electric car iphone
and other gadgets the battery is
constructed of two types of nano
diamonds which makes it basically crash
proof if utilized in a vehicle or other
moving item the nanodiamond battery
according to mdb is self-charging and
environmentally beneficial it might be
used to power smartphones electric
vehicles drones and a variety of other
devices polycrystalline diamond covering
is used to store the energy source in
these batteries in addition to its
durability 12 times that of stainless
steel the battery is made robust and
stiff because of its thermal
conductivity which can store radiation
inside the device so what's the deal
lawrence livermore national laboratory
analyzed the proof of concept for
producing ndb and found a 40 increase in
charge efficiency over the diamond there
are a few steps involved in the
extraction of radioactive graphite from
nuclear power facilities these removed
radioactive leftovers are currently
disposed of due to their danger to avoid
any live interaction these items are
placed in a container and thrown into
deep sea or volcanoes where they will
eventually decompose radioactive
graphite is treated and purified in
order to remove it from the environment
the batteries can then be made using
layered structures of carbon
diamond nuclear voltaic dnv batteries
have two contact surfaces for charge
collection and are made of a combination
of semiconductors ceramic and metal many
units are put together in the shape of a
stack where construction and positive
and negative surfaces are generated in
the same way as a traditional battery
system but with a higher output source
because of a single crystalline diamond
in the system the radio isotopes in
these batteries aid in inelastic
scattering a polycrystalline diamond
layer is applied to the stacks and the
source at the same time these batteries
which feature several stacked diamond
layers a small circuit board and a super
capacitor for collecting storing and
discharging energy will be produced by
nda in a variety of common and unique
sizes including double a aaa 18650 and
2170 with this battery it appears that
long life is possible they could even be
useful for spacecraft that need to
operate for long periods without
assistance according to ndb satellites
for instance are one example as a side
note an average human would have died
400 times and more than a thousand
generations would have elapsed before
this battery runs out of charge there is
also a consumer product in development
that might power a smartphone or
electric car for over a decade with no
charge the company estimates that a
single battery could power multiple
pairs of wheels for up to 90 years which
is considerably beyond the lifespan of
any single vehicle aside from the
convenience of not having to worry about
recharging our devices this is also a
significant step forward in
understanding the environmental impact
of battery production and disposal a
major concern is the safety of the
product is it safe even though it
generates power by the use of radiation
the diamond layers collect charge while
also preventing radiation leakage the
radiation levels emitted by the cells
according to ndb will be lower than
those emitted by the human body it is
therefore safe in accordance with this
viewpoint even so it's important to
remember that no actual batteries are
used in the testing process these
nanodiamond batteries have a charge
efficiency of 40
which is significantly higher than that
of commercial diamonds which only have a
charge efficiency of 15
a leading global aerospace defense and
security manufacturing company and
leader in nuclear fuel cycle products
and services are among ndb's first beta
customers prototype batteries for long
duration missions are currently being
developed and ndb expects to begin
selling them to commercial partners
including space agencies within the next
two years let's see if it comes to
fruition and if it does the tech
industry is going to be forever changed
if successful it could significantly
reduce the cost of lithium removing one
of the most significant bottlenecks to
battery production ramp up bringing us
back to the original premise that these
nuclear diamond batteries will be the
most transformative for toyota we'd like
to know what you think in the comment
section below