After the furor caused by its ultra-efficient and zero-emission engine, China just changed history with a capsule that could be the end of the batteries. The Asian country has been acting methodically for decades, increasingly dominating industries, from toys and clothing in the 1980s to semiconductors and renewable energy today. It already produces a third of the world’s manufactured goods, even more than that United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
As recorded The New York Times in Spanish, China started far below West on the market for batteries for electric cars. Under these circumstances Beijing took action in 2011. It required Western companies to transfer their key technologies to their operations China if they wanted the country’s consumers to receive the same subsidies for importing electric vehicles as they do for vehicles produced in that country China.
Beijing took another step in 2016 and declared that even electric cars were doing well China They could only qualify for consumer subsidies if they used batteries from Chinese companies’ factories. Even manufacturers like the South Korean company Hyundai changed their contracts with Chinese battery companies such as CAT. Currently, Chinese companies produce most of the world’s electric vehicle batteries.
China changes history with a capsule that is better than conventional batteries
A group of physicists and engineers have one extremely small fusion battery that is up to 8,000 times more efficient than previous models. This group is affiliated with various institutions China and testifies to the strength of his product, an advance that has already resulted in a publication in the magazine Nature.
Scientists have been looking for ways to develop for decades small fusion batteries that can power virtually any device: mobile phones, robots, vehicles… However, they want to go one step further and ensure that charge lasts for many years.
In their analysis, the research team found a new way to obtain a more efficient device than the previous one. The final device is relatively simple and is based on the use of americium, a radioactive element, inserted into a crystal. The procedure works as follows: americium emits alpha particles, which the crystal converts into light, causing the crystal to glow green.
A photovoltaic cell captures light and converts it into electricity. To prevent radiation leaks, the device is housed in a quartz capsule. Tests conducted on this device show that it can remain charged for extended periods of time, even decades. Although americium has a half-life of 7,380 years, the radiation would erode the materials containing the battery long before the fusion fuel is consumed.
China says goodbye to conventional batteries with this capsule
Despite the small energy generation, the researchers emphasized that this device is about 8,000 times more efficient than other energy systems. fusion battery. However, the amount of energy generated remains very low. They warn that it takes 40 billion of these types of batteries to light a 60-watt light bulb.
Researchers believe that, with additional refinements, these small batteries could be used in small, remote devices, such as those sent on long-duration space missions. A vision that reflects the history of China and its batteries are forever generating a paradigm shift that even its cylindrical engine, which is a thousand times more powerful than hydrogen, could not achieve.