The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 05, 2016
Filed:
Mar. 22, 2012
Alan Kevin Wertsching, Idaho Falls, ID (US);
Troy Joseph Trantor, Mena, AR (US);
Rhonda Tranter, Mena, AR (US);
Matthias Anthony Ebner, Idaho Falls, ID (US);
Brad Curtis Norby, Iona, ID (US);
Alan Kevin Wertsching, Idaho Falls, ID (US);
Troy Joseph Trantor, Mena, AR (US);
Matthias Anthony Ebner, Idaho Falls, ID (US);
Brad Curtis Norby, Iona, ID (US);
U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A method and device for producing secure, high-density tritium bonded with carbon. A substrate comprising carbon is provided. A precursor is intercalated between carbon in the substrate. The precursor intercalated in the substrate is irradiated until at least a portion of the precursor, preferably a majority of the precursor, is transmutated into tritium and bonds with carbon of the substrate forming bonded tritium. The resulting bonded tritium, tritium bonded with carbon, produces electrons via beta decay. The substrate is preferably a substrate from the list of substrates consisting of highly-ordered pyrolytic graphite, carbon fibers, carbon nanotunes, buckministerfullerenes, and combinations thereof. The precursor is preferably boron-10, more preferably lithium-6. Preferably, thermal neutrons are used to irradiate the precursor. The resulting bonded tritium is preferably used to generate electricity either directly or indirectly.