Liquid scintillator transducer-powered nuclear voltaic system

A nuclear voltaic power source comprising:

• (a) at least one radioisotope;
• (b) an organic liquid scintillator transducer medium based on an aromatic hydrocarbon dissolved in a solvent, the organic liquid scintillator converting ionizing radiation into visible-wavelength photons in the range of 365 to 430 nm;
• (c) at least one wide bandgap semiconductor converter having a bandgap energy matched to the visible-wavelength emission;
• (d) electrical contacts;
• and
• (e) a containment structure maintaining the organic liquid scintillator at a temperature suitable for liquid-phase operation.

A method of converting nuclear radiation energy into electrical power using a liquid scintillator transducer, the method comprising:

• (a) providing a liquid scintillator transducer medium in a containment structure;
• (b) exposing the liquid scintillator transducer medium to ionizing radiation from at least one radioisotope;
• (c) converting the ionizing radiation into scintillation photons within the liquid scintillator transducer medium;
• (d) absorbing the scintillation photons in a wide bandgap semiconductor converter to generate electron-hole pairs;
• (e) extracting electrical current through electrical contacts;
• and
• (f) selecting the wide bandgap semiconductor converter based on spectral matching of its bandgap energy to the emission wavelength of the liquid scintillator transducer medium.

A nuclear voltaic power source comprising:

• a containment structure;
• at least one radioisotope within the containment structure;
• a nanoparticle-enhanced liquid scintillator medium within the containment structure, the medium comprising a liquid scintillator host and nanoparticles selected from quantum dots, metal-organic frameworks, and nanocrystals dispersed therein, the nanoparticles providing enhanced radiation interaction and tunable photon emission;
• a wide bandgap semiconductor converter disposed to receive the photons emitted by the nanoparticle-enhanced scintillator and convert them into electron-hole pairs;
• and
• electrical contacts for current extraction.

A nuclear voltaic power system comprising:

• a plurality of nuclear voltaic power cells, wherein at least two cells employ different liquid scintillator transducer media selected from the group consisting of liquid noble gas scintillators, organic liquid scintillators, cerium-doped silicate liquids, ionic liquids with scintillating solutes, and nanoparticle-enhanced scintillator suspensions;
• each cell further comprising at least one radioisotope, a wide bandgap semiconductor converter matched to the emission wavelength of its respective liquid scintillator, electrical contacts, and a containment structure;
• and
• an electrical interconnection connecting the plurality of cells in at least one of a series and a parallel configuration.