JP-2026075300-A - Power generation button and nuclear battery

JP2026075300AJP 2026075300 AJP2026075300 AJP 2026075300AJP-2026075300-A

Abstract

[Problem] This application discloses a power generation element and a nuclear battery that can efficiently utilize various types of radiation. [Solution] This disclosure provides a power generation element used in contact with a radioactive material, comprising: a first power generation layer that converts the energy of particle radiation from the radioactive material into electricity; a second power generation layer that generates electricity using the energy of electromagnetic radiation that has passed through the first power generation layer; and a heat insulating layer disposed between the first power generation layer and the second power generation layer, which suppresses the transfer of heat from the radioactive material to the second power generation layer through the first power generation layer. [Selection Diagram] Figure 2

Inventors

藤原健
庄司靖
嶋岡毅紘

Assignees

国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所

Dates

Publication Date: 20260508
Application Date: 20241022

Claims (7)

A power generation element used in contact with radioactive materials, A first power generation layer that converts the energy of particle radiation from the aforementioned radioactive material into electricity, A second power generation layer that generates electricity using the energy of electromagnetic radiation that has passed through the first power generation layer, The device comprises an insulating layer disposed between the first power generation layer and the second power generation layer, which suppresses heat transfer from the radioactive material to the second power generation layer through the first power generation layer, Power generation element.
The aforementioned second power generation layer is A scintillator that emits light due to the energy of electromagnetic radiation that has passed through the first power generation layer, The scintillator has a photoelectric element that converts the light energy into electricity, The aforementioned insulating layer is positioned between the first power generation layer and the scintillator, and suppresses the amount of heat transferred from the radioactive material to the scintillator through the first power generation layer. The power generation element according to claim 1.
The first power generation layer is a layer made of diamond or silicon carbide (SiC). The power generation element according to claim 1.
The aforementioned insulation layer is a layer made of carbon felt, glass wool, or phenolic foam. The power generation element according to claim 1.
The second power generation layer is a layer using indium gallium phosphide (InGaP). The power generation element according to claim 1.
The scintillator is further covered by a reflective material, The power generation element according to claim 2.
Radioactive materials and, A power generation element according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising Nuclear battery.

Description

This application discloses a power generation element and a nuclear battery. Besides rechargeable batteries capable of storing electrical energy, other known types of batteries include nuclear batteries that generate electricity from the radiation of radioactive materials (see, for example, Patent Document 1) and solar cells that generate electricity from sunlight (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-7243Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-173545 Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of a power generation element according to an embodiment.Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating how a power generation element generates electricity.Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the types of radiation emitted from spent nuclear fuel at nuclear power plants.Figure 4 is the first figure showing a modified example of the power generation element.Figure 5 is a second diagram showing a modified example of the power generation element.Figure 6 is a graph showing the power generation performance for each type of power generation element. The embodiments described below are examples of the present disclosure and do not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure to the embodiments described below. <Implementation> Figure 1 shows an example of a power generation element 1 according to an embodiment. The power generation element 1 efficiently generates electricity from the energy of various types of radiation, such as alpha rays, beta rays, and gamma rays, emitted from radioactive materials. For this reason, as shown in Figure 1, the power generation element 1 is equipped with a first power generation layer 2 that generates electricity mainly from the energy of particle radiation such as alpha rays and beta rays, and a second power generation layer 4 that generates electricity mainly from the energy of electromagnetic radiation such as gamma rays. The first power generation layer 2 is a layer that generates electricity using a diamond element, for example, a 0.1 mm thick diamond layer laminated on a semiconductor substrate. Diamond has a high dielectric breakdown field (>10 MV/cm) and high carrier mobility (electrons: 4500 cm² /Vs, holes: 38). It possesses excellent physical properties such as 00 cm² /Vs and the highest thermal conductivity among materials (22 W/cmK), and furthermore, it has excellent chemical stability and radiation resistance, making it suitable as a power device material for operation in high temperature and extreme environments. A laminate in which a diamond layer is deposited on a semiconductor substrate can be fabricated, for example, by the thermal filament CVD method. Specifically, a carrier gas containing a carbon source is introduced into a vacuum chamber in which the semiconductor substrate and filaments are placed, and this carrier gas is heated by the filaments. Through this process, the diamond layer is deposited on the semiconductor substrate. The second power generation layer 4 has a scintillator 5 and a photoelectric element 6. The scintillator 5 is made of a material that emits light when exposed to gamma rays. Therefore, the scintillator 5 can also be called a gamma-ray converter that converts gamma rays into light. The photoelectric element 6 converts the light energy from the scintillator 5 into electricity. Thus, in the second power generation layer 4, when the scintillator 5 emits light upon receiving electromagnetic radiation such as gamma rays, the photoelectric element 6, which receives the light from the scintillator 5, generates electricity. The second power generation layer 4 is a layer that generates electricity from electromagnetic radiation that has passed through the first power generation layer 2. However, if a wide-bandgap semiconductor such as a diamond element is used in the first power generation layer 2, electromagnetic radiation such as gamma rays will pass through the first power generation layer 2 and enter the second power generation layer 4, allowing electricity to be generated from the energy of the electromagnetic radiation. Furthermore, it is preferable that the scintillator 5 is covered with an appropriate reflective material to prevent light emitted from the scintillator 5 from leaking to areas other than the photoelectric element 6. In this case, it is desirable that the reflective material has excellent radiation resistance. Suitable reflective materials include, for example, high-reflectivity materials such as Teflon (registered trademark) and barium sulfate. If a reflective material is provided on the scintillator 5, particle radiation cannot enter the scintillator 5, and therefore, power generation by particle radiation cannot be expected from the photoelectric element 6. However, since the power generation element 1 of this embodiment is provided with a first power generation layer 2, power generation by particle radiation can be handled by the first power generation layer 2. Incidentally, while alpha and