Comment on Betavolt's miniature battery could spell the end of smartphone chargers

Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• Rotten_potato@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Sounds very similar to the old Soviet pacemakers with radioisotope batteries. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, records about them got lost and so a bunch of people have been buried with pretty radioactive stuff in their chest. I don’t think we (as developed societies) are going to take that risk for some phone batteries…

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  • NounsAndWords@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I don’t think we (as developed societies) are going to take that risk for some phone batteries…

    Not unless it’s profitable, at least…

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    • Atelopus-zeteki@kbin.run ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Fortunately for us, Nickel 63 decays to plain old Copper 63, which is stable. Science! However too much copper in the diet can be deleterious.

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      • CucumberFetish@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Yes. After a few centuries it will be harmless.

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• Jimmycakes@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Can I just store it in the river behind my house?

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  • bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That’s bad for the environment. You have to send them down the garbage disposal first!

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• Atelopus-zeteki@kbin.run ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I noticed, by reading the article, that Nickel 63 decays to Copper 63 which is stable.

  "Betavolt further states the battery is environmentally friendly. “After the decay period, the nickel 63 isotopes become a stable isotope of copper, which is non-radioactive and does not pose any threat or pollution to the environment,” the company explains. “Therefore, unlike existing chemical batteries, nuclear batteries do not require expensive recycling processes.” "

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_nickel

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  • SharkAttak@kbin.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Key word 'after decay period', which means after it's lost all or most of its radioactivity.. still a lot of time.

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  • wikibot@lemmy.world [bot] ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Here’s the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:

    Naturally occurring nickel (28Ni) is composed of five stable isotopes; 58Ni, 60Ni, 61Ni, 62Ni and 64Ni, with 58Ni being the most abundant (68.077% natural abundance). 26 radioisotopes have been characterised with the most stable being 59Ni with a half-life of 76,000 years, 63Ni with a half-life of 100.1 years, and 56Ni with a half-life of 6.077 days. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 60 hours and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 30 seconds. This element also has 8 meta states.

    ^to^ ^opt^ ^out^^,^ ^pm^ ^me^ ^‘optout’.^ ^article^ ^|^ ^about^

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