World's most powerful battery launched that can last up to 50 years

Battery technology has improved significantly over the past few decades. Now we are getting sodium-ion cell power banks, even though current batteries are lasting longer than ever before, a battery lasting decades after it is charged once was until now part of science fiction alone, but this imagination can become a reality.

According to a report by Popular Mechanics, a Chinese battery company Betavolt has recently introduced a coin-sized nuclear battery, named BV100. This battery is powered by the radioactive element Nickel-63 and can last up to 50 years on a single charge.

The 100 microwatt power output capacity BV100 battery is designed to run on 3 volts. The company claims it will release a 1-watt capacity battery later this year that can be implemented in consumer electronics and drones.

The battery has two components: a Radioactive Emitter and an Absorber semiconductor. The radioactive emitter degrades with time and emits electrons with high velocity that collide with the semiconductor absorber. A stable and small amount of electrical energy is formed by creating an "electron-hole" pair. Harmful beta particles are protected with thin aluminum sheets by the company.

Even though its power is not enough to charge devices like smartphones or cameras, BV100 is not a discovery limited to the laboratory only. Betavolt has already started mass production of the battery and it can be used in low-power devices such as medical equipment, spacecraft, deep-sea sensors, pacemakers, and planetary rovers.

Compared to lithium-ion batteries, the BV100 battery offers 10 times higher energy density. It can withstand extreme temperatures ranging from -60 to +120 degrees Celsius without the fear of bursting or catching fire. Betavolt claims that the battery is environmentally friendly as its radioactive element Nickel-63 eventually gets converted into Copper, which is easy and cheap to recycle.