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Little batteries pack big power
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Little batteries pack big power
Decorative microphotograph of a "nanobattery" |
Combining nuclear- and electrical-engineering technologies, a trio of engineers hopes to make independently powered microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) about the size of a grain of sand. Until now, researchers looking for such devices were limited by the comparatively large batteries needed to power them.
But Electrical & Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Amit Lal, along with Engineering Physics Professors James Blanchard and Doug Henderson, have developed "nanobatteries" from minute amounts of coated radioactive material, similar to that in smoke detectors and pacemakers.
The batteries work by harnessing the material's natural radioactive decay, and could last hundreds of years. The research is funded by a three-year, $970,000 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency grant.