摘要
Sustainable energy sources are an immediate need to cope with the imminent issue of climate change the world is facing today.In particular,the long-lasting miniatured power sources that can supply energy continually to power handheld gadgets,sensors,electronic devices,unmanned airborne vehicles in space and extreme mining are some of the examples where this is an acute need.It is known from basic physics that radioactive materials decay over few years and some nuclear materials have their half-life until thousands of years.The past five decades of research have been spent harnessing the decay energy of the radioactive materials to develop batteries that can last until the radioactive reaction continues.Thus,an emergent opportunity of industrial symbiosis to make use of nuclear waste by using radioactive waste as raw material to develop bat-teries with long shelf life presents a great opportunity for sustainable energy resource development.However,the current canon of research on this topic is scarce.This perspective draws fresh discussions on the topic while highlighting future directions in this wealthy arena of research.Graphical abstract A long-lasting miniaturised nuclear battery utilising 14C radioactive isotope as fuel.
基金
support provided by the UKRI via Grants No.EP/S036180/1 and EP/T024607/1
feasibility study awards to LSBU from the UKRI National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Hub (EP/V029746/1)
Transforming the Foundation Industries:a Network+ (EP/V026402/1)
the Hubert Curien Partnership award 2022 from the British Council,Transforming the Partnership award from the Royal Academy of Engineering (TSP1332)
the Newton Fellowship award from the Royal Society (NIF\R1\191571).
