Application of liquid scintillators as energy conversion materials in nuclear batteries

Abstract

The application of liquid scintillators as energy conversion materials in nuclear batteries was proposed. By introducing liquid scintillators, the output properties of radioluminescence (RL) nuclear batteries based on different liquid scintillators were investigated via low-energy X-ray. Results indicated that the values of short circuit current Isc and maximum output power Pmax increased as the X-ray intensity increased, and the output power of nuclear battery with Ultima Gold liquid scintillator was greater than those of batteries with Emulsifier-Safe or Bioscint liquid scintillator under excitation condition of 25 kV tube voltage. To analyze the RL effects of the liquid scintillators under X-ray excitation, we measured the RL spectra of the different liquid scintillators. Considering luminescence utilization in batteries, the surface of the quartz cuvette was covered with Al film. Al is a high-performance reflective material that can increase the scintillation light released by Ultima Gold, reaching the GaInP/GaAs/Ge device. After covering a thin Al film, the output power of the battery was significantly improved under X-ray excitation.