Simple example

At an average power consumption of 100 mW, you need slightly more than 1 cm3 of lithium battery volume for 1 year of operation, assuming you can use 100% of the charge in the battery.

Energy density of rechargeable batteries is less than half that of primary batteries.

So, someone needs to either replace batteries in every node every ~ 9 months, or recharge every battery every 3 to 4 months. In most cases, this is not acceptable

An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery (or "voltaic pile") in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniel cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power source for many household and industrial applications.]

Macro Batteries - too big

Zinc air (3500 J/cm3)

High power density Doesnt stop

Alkaline (1800 J/cm3)

Standard for modern portable electronics

Lithium (1000 - 2880 J/cm3)

Standard for high power portable electronics

Micro Batteries - on the way

Lithium Ni/NaOH/Zn

NUCLEAR MICRO-BATTERY THIN FILM MICRO-BATTERIES

The world of tomorrow that science fiction dreams of and technology manifests might be a very small one. It would reason that small devices would need small batteries to power them. Examination of the research paths and possible applications of nano-scale nuclear power devices will provide perspective on the technological and societal trajectory of nanoscale nuclear power devices.

nano-nuclear batteries commonly called betavoltaics and self-reciprocating cantilevers. The operation of betavoltaics is governed by several parameters. As shown in Figure the betavoltaic effect is the generation of electrical potential due to net positive charge flow of the particle induced electron hole pairs (EHPs).

When EHPs diffuse into the depletion region of the semiconductor pn-junction, the electrical field of the depletion region sweeps them across the depletion region. Net power can be extracted because the resulting current is from n- to p-type semiconductor

Figure Betavoltaic effect a) Schematic diagram of betavoltaic battery b) Potential diagram for a betavoltaic effect

Figure Betavoltaic microbattery based on a pn-junction device on a bulk-icromachined inverted pyramid array. Left three are views of the inverted pyramid array and the far right shows the configuration of Liquid 63NiCl/HCl solution in the inverted pyramid array The energy conversion efficiency of the particles in these betavoltaics is 0.5-1.0% producing on the order of nano-Watts of output power.

Thin film batteries are built layer by layer by vapor deposition. The resulting battery is formed of parallel plates, much as an ordinary battery construction, just much thinner. The figure shows an example of a thin film battery layout where films are deposited symmetrically onto both sides of a supporting substrate.

The full stack of films is only 10 to 15 m thick, but including the support at least doubles the overall battery thickness. When the support is thin, the entire battery can be flexible.

Schematic illustration of a thin film battery. The arrows indicate the discharge reaction where a Li ion diffuses from the lithium metal anode to fill a vacancy in an intercalation compound that serves as the cathode. The compensating electron is conducted through the device.

Schematic cross section of a thin film battery fabricated by vapor deposition onto both sides of a substrate support.

Hearing Aid Batteries Watch Batteries, Lithium Coin Batteries Alkaline Button Batteries

The several examples presented here demonstrate that there are tremendous opportunities in microbattery design. Electrode geometries and cell configurations not yet considered are likely to yield current distributions significantly better than the examples described here.

While significant increases in both power and energy density are obtainable from microbatteries relative to conventional batteries, the inherent difficulty in achieving a uniform current distribution may limit some devices. The several examples presented here demonstrate that there are tremendous opportunities in microbattery design. Electrode geometries and cell configurations not yet considered are likely to yield current distributions significantly better than the examples described.