Soochow University develops the most efficient irradiated photovoltaic nuclear cell with nearly 8,000 times higher conversion efficiency

Recently, a research team from Soochow University has proposed a design concept for actinide miniature nuclear battery structure based on "built-in energy converter".

By coupling actinides with luminescent lanthanides at the molecular level, the research team has achieved a nearly 8,000-fold increase in radionuclide decay energy to light conversion efficiency and developed the highest efficiency irradiated photovoltaic (PV) nuclear cell known to date.

Miniature nuclear batteries are devices that convert the decay energy of radioisotopes into electrical energy. Thanks to the fact that the decay of radioisotopes is not affected by the external environment, miniature nuclear batteries have become an enduring and indispensable energy solution in many application scenarios where traditional batteries are difficult or challenging to perform.

The research team further verified that the built-in energy converter can significantly improve the energy conversion efficiency through both experimental measurements and theoretical simulations. The experimental results show that the energy conversion efficiency from decay energy to light energy in the built-in mode of radionuclides is nearly 8,000 times higher than that of conventional structures.

The built-in energy converter also exhibits excellent structural and luminescent stability, and combining it with a photovoltaic cell can convert long-term stable self-luminescence into electrical output.

Accordingly, the team has developed a new actinide micro-irradiation photovoltaic (PV) nuclear cell, which achieves a record-breaking total energy conversion efficiency of 0.889% and a power per activity of 139 μW・Ci-1. At the same time, the micro-irradiator PV cell showed almost no degradation of its performance parameters during 200 hours of continuous operation.

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