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Development of tritiated nitroxide for nuclear battery
Johnny Russo1, Marc Litz2, William Ray3
1Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate, US Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD 20783, USA; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
Summary
Researchers explored nitroxides as stable tritium (3H) containment for beta radioisotope power sources. Tritiated nitroxide demonstrated low tritium loss in solution, showing potential for enhanced beta-flux power in sensor applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nuclear Engineering
- Radiochemistry
Background:
- Beta radioisotope power sources are crucial for sensor technology but face limitations like low power and isotope leakage.
- Current beta sources struggle with low beta-flux power, intrinsic isotope leakage, and self-absorption, hindering their application.
- The figure of merit for beta sources is beta-flux power (dPβ/dS), optimizing beta particle penetration into semiconductor regions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify a compound for containing beta emitters, specifically tritium (3H), to achieve a beta-flux power of at least 0.73 μWn/cm2.
- To evaluate nitroxides as potential stable tritium carriers due to their demonstrated deuteration, synthesis ease, structural diversity, and pliability.
- To assess the stability and beta-flux power of a tritiated nitroxide compound for planar and textured semiconductor applications.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis and tritiation of a proof-of-principle nitroxide compound with a specific activity of 103 Ci/g.
- Stability testing of the tritiated nitroxide in toluene solution and solid form, monitoring tritium loss over time.
- Utilized MCNPX Monte Carlo code to calculate beta-flux power for tritiated nitroxide and titanium tritide, comparing numerical and empirical results.
Main Results:
- Tritiated nitroxide in toluene showed no measurable 3H2 outgassing after 27 days and only 2% tritium loss after 256 days in solution.
- In solid form, the tritiated nitroxide exhibited approximately 50% tritium loss after 21 days, indicating lower stability compared to solution.
- Calculated beta-flux power for tritiated nitroxide was 0.2 μWn/cm2, while titanium tritide was 0.70 μWn/cm2, with a 4% model validation difference for titanium tritide.
- A gravimetric density of at least 9% 3H in nitroxide is required for planar configuration to match titanium tritide performance.
Conclusions:
- Nitroxides show promise as stable tritium carriers in solution, offering a potential pathway to overcome limitations of current beta sources.
- The stability of tritiated nitroxides is highly dependent on their physical form, with solutions being significantly more stable than solids.
- Further optimization of nitroxide composition and structure is needed to achieve the target beta-flux power for advanced semiconductor applications.