Recently, a research team led by Professor Shuao Wang and Professor Yaxing Wang from the State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection at Soochow University, in collaboration with researchers from College of Nano Science & Technology Soochow University, Xi'an High-Tech Research Institute, Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, and Xiangtan University, proposed a structural design concept for actinide-based micronuclear batteries using a "built-in energy converter" (Figure 1). By coupling actinide elements with luminescent lanthanide elements at the molecular level, the team achieved a nearly 8000-fold increase in the conversion efficiency of radioactive nuclide decay energy to light energy. They have assembled the highest efficiency radioluminescent photovoltaic nuclear battery known to date. The research findings, titled "Micronuclear battery based on a coalescent energy transducer," were published in Nature.

 Figure 1: Schematic Diagram of the Structural Design Concept for Novel Actinide-based Micronuclear Batteries

Paper Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07933-9