Radiation protection evaluation and spontaneous discharge performance of betavoltaic tritium batteries using well-aligned titanium dioxide nanotube arrays

Abstract

Nuclear power plants produce the largest amount of tritium. Tritium is a by-product of nuclear reactors. Currently, it can only be placed in sealed storage tanks. Radioactive waste can be used as a source of energy for radioisotope battery. Since isotope energy is continuously converted into electrical energy for a long period of time, it is considered an ideal choice for remote applications. The mechanism of current generation of nuclear batteries is similar to that of solar cells. The only difference is that the electron holes are generated from radiation, not from light. The novel technologies of betavoltaic batteries would make use of the synthetic strategy for TiO2 semiconductors and the radioactive wastes radiation sources (H-3) stored in INER (Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Taiwan). The radioactive waste can become a source of energy for radioisotope generators. At first, this study evaluates the radiation shielding safety distance required for radioactivity used in a betavoltaic tritium battery. The technological innovation includes the experimental synthesis of TiO2 nanotube in a complete array and the use of TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNTAs) as the semiconductor inside radioisotope batteries. In this work, combining the technology of TiO2 synthesizing TiO2 nanotube arrays with liquid waste radiation sources (tritium, H-3), the betavoltaic tritium battery (Ni/H-3/TNTAs/Ti) have successfully created and analyzing the characteristics of betavoltaic battery. Durability was assessed using analytical parameters of betavoltaic batteries compared to lithium-ion batteries. Such betavoltaic batteries have practical advantages in tritium handling applications and long-term battery performance.