EEVblog #1333 - Nuclear Diamond Self-Charging Battery DEBUNKED!
Why Hacker News recommends it
Repeatedly linked under hype stories about nuclear diamond batteries as the definitive debunk.
What it is
Dave Jones of EEVblog debunks the marketing claims of the self-charging nano nuclear diamond battery from NDB Inc. He argues it is no better than existing 100uW betavoltaic batteries, with an added graphene supercapacitor.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2020 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Critical josephcsible · 2020-08 · on “Nano-diamond battery that "lasts for 28k years" closer to commercialization”
EEVblog did a debunk of this at [this video] 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.
Critical gus_massa · 2020-09 · on “Scientists turn nuclear waste into diamond batteries”
It is not clear that they have a real working prototype. The current is very low, only 100uW, and there are similar batteries made with tritium. More info in a video by EEVblog eevblog had a good video about this product: [this video] Also, there is a calculation of the low the maximal current per kilogram in [LINK]
Critical diimdeep · 2020-09 · on “Gravitricity – Fast, long-life energy storage”
Where is innovation and efficiency ? To me it smells like [this video] and all about patents, marketing and money burning, but I don't know as much as these professors do so maybe I am wrong.
Critical ChrisGranger · 2020-09 · on “A battery made from nuclear waste that can last 28,000 years”
This nonexistent product has been discussed and debunked here before. Here's EEVblog's take: [this video]
Critical colejohnson66 · 2021-02 · on “Hybrid supercapacitor offers NiMH energy density, charges much faster”
To add to the sample size of n=1, a few months ago, there were many articles about “nano diamond” batteries that will supposedly solve the radioactive waste problem. Dave Jones of EEVBlog debunked it pretty quickly: [this video] Basically, every few months, a company comes out with claims that battery tech or e-waste has been revolutionized , but it’s always a bunch of bunk claims made using a multitude of weasel words.
Critical gus_massa · 2021-04 · on “Diamond battery powered by nuclear waste runs for 28,000 years”
It is not clear that they have a real working prototype. The current is very low, only 100uW, and there are similar batteries made with tritium. More info in a video by EEVblog eevblog had a good video about this product: [this video] (it's old, but I can't find any evidence of improvements.) Also, there is a calculation of the low the maximal current per kilogram in [LINK]
Critical mikewarot · 2021-04 · on “Ask HN: What under-the-radar technology are you excited about?”
Why are you interested in this? If it is for anything other than very LOW power (microwatts), you're going to be disappointed. It is essentially a beta emitter hooked to a capacitor via some electronics to handle voltage conversion. The thing is the beta source is use it or lose it, and very low power. If you scaled this up to power a Tesla, it would be a nightmare, as it would need to dissipate the full power the car requires, all the time, or it would melt down (aka Fukashima) For a longer debunk - [this video]
Critical gus_massa · 2022-04 · on “Turning nuclear waste into diamond batteries”
It was heavily discussed a few years ago, for example in [LINK] They last for a log time, but the important detail is that they have very low power, like 1mW with the size factor of a normal battery, so you need like a dozen for a (old) wrist watch and s few hundred to turn on a led. More details in: [LINK] [this video] (EEVblog)