近日，苏州大学的王殳凹&王亚星及其研究小组与西北核技术研究所的欧阳晓平等人合作并取得一项新进展。经过不懈努力，他们研制出基于汇聚能量转换器的微核电池。相关研究成果已于2024年9月18日在国际权威学术期刊《自然》上发表。

本文提出了一种微核电池架构，该架构通过将²⁴³Am嵌入发光镧系配位聚合物中，纳入了一个汇聚能量转换器。此举在分子层面将放射性同位素与汇聚能量转换器相结合，与传统架构相比，实现了从α衰变能量到持续自发光的能量转换效率高达8000倍的提升。当该架构与将自发光转换为电能的光伏电池结合使用时，便获得了一种新型辐射光伏微核电池，其总功率转换效率为0.889%，每居里功率达到139微瓦（μWCi^-1）。

据悉，微核电池利用放射性同位素衰变释放的能量，在小规模上产生电力，通常在纳瓦或微瓦范围内。与化学电池不同，微核电池的使用寿命与所用放射性同位素的半衰期紧密相关，从而能够实现长达数十年的工作寿命。此外，放射性衰变不受环境温度、压力和磁场等环境因素的影响，使微核电池成为在常规电池不适用或难以更换的情境下持久且可靠的电源。常见的镅同位素（²⁴¹Am和²⁴³Am）是α衰变发射体，其半衰期超过数百年。然而，传统微核电池结构中的严重自吸收阻碍了高效α衰变能量的转换，使得α放射性同位素微核电池的开发颇具挑战性。

附：英文原文

Title: Micronuclear battery based on a coalescent energy transducer

Author: Li, Kai, Yan, Congchong, Wang, Junren, Zhu, Kun, Guo, Junjun, Zhang, Yugang, Shi, Guozheng, Yin, Yuchen, Cheng, Liwei, Sun, Liang, Wang, Yumin, Zhang, Hailong, Sun, Ying, Yuan, Jianyu, Ma, Wanli, Ji, Guoxun, Chai, Zhifang, Wang, Yaxing, Ouyang, Xiaoping, Wang, Shuao

Issue&Volume: 2024-09-18

Abstract: Micronuclear batteries harness energy from the radioactive decay of radioisotopes to generate electricity on a small scale, typically in the nanowatt or microwatt range. Contrary to chemical batteries, the longevity of a micronuclear battery is tied to the half-life of the used radioisotope, enabling operational lifetimes that can span several decades. Furthermore, the radioactive decay remains unaffected by environmental factors such as temperature, pressure and magnetic fields, making the micronuclear battery an enduring and reliable power source in scenarios in which conventional batteries prove impractical or challenging to replace. Common radioisotopes of americium (²⁴¹Am and ²⁴³Am) are α-decay emitters with half-lives longer than hundreds of years. Severe self-adsorption in traditional architectures of micronuclear batteries impedes high-efficiency α-decay energy conversion, making the development of α-radioisotope micronuclear batteries challenging. Here we propose a micronuclear battery architecture that includes a coalescent energy transducer by incorporating ²⁴³Am into a luminescent lanthanide coordination polymer. This couples radioisotopes with energy transducers at the molecular level, resulting in an 8,000-fold enhancement in energy conversion efficiency from α decay energy to sustained autoluminescence compared with that of conventional architectures. When implemented in conjunction with a photovoltaic cell that translates autoluminescence into electricity, a new type of radiophotovoltaic micronuclear battery with a total power conversion efficiency of 0.889% and a power per activity of 139 microwatts per curie (μWCi^-1) is obtained.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07933-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07933-9