Though that’s technically not a new idea, the way these whiz kids have engineered the surface of a material to convert heat into precise wavelengths of light most definitely is. These wavelengths are chosen to match those of photovoltaic cells that can best become electricity. The new discovery combines burning butane and nanometer-sized pits to fine-tune those wavelengths. Then they’re paired with PV cells that are tuned into those wavelengths to suck out the energy.
Why should we care? The end-product of all this is a generator the size of a dime that can run three times longer than a lithium-ion battery — something those MIT students must really hate. That generator can be recharged immediately by inserting a tiny cartridge of fresh juice. Oh, and they also made a radioisotope that produces heat from radioactive decay. It could quite possibly power its own electricity for 30 years. NBD.
So the former could be used to power, say, a mobile device, and the latter could be used to power say, an entire spacecraft on a long mission. Either way, those blessed MIT geeks have taken one small step for battery power, and one giant leap for all those people out there who can’t remember to charge their gadgets.
EckyThump
Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 3:46 PMYup, put nuff brain power in one room and they’s bound to create sumfing good, heh heh… I likes MIT..#]
G8
Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 11:24 PMNot exactly a comprehensive article. How does the ‘burning butane’ that ultimately charges the cells relate to the ‘tiny cartridge’? Is it a butane cartridge? So the tiny generator creates heat by burning butane from a tiny cartridge that is filtered through nano-sized pits that charge the small PV cells… why does that sound like an inefficient way to charge a battery? I also don’t see how the ‘former’, i.e. burning butane method, could be used in a mobile device. The ‘latter’ radioactive decay to heat method sounds more plausible based on how this article was written.
TSH
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 10:45 AMIIRC Pioneer (1972) and Voyager (1977) have or had radioactive thermal generators on board which allowed Voyager to stay in contact for something like 30 years. If this is basically a more advanced, more efficient application of similar ideas then I’m sure NASA would be interested.
How awesome would it be to have a network of cheap, informative probes orbiting every planet?