Hello,

Bill Schweber brings us some interesting tech research from RoK that produces power from beta particle decay...yup, "betavoltaic" cells.

These cells purportedly produce up to 500mW of power. The researchers' cell demonstrated power density per radioactive source at 5.32 nW/cm², J_sc of 15.01 nA/cm², and V_oc of 2.75 mV.  I think your potato battery experiment is safe in terms of power output magnitude...for now.

Bet you'd have never thought of using a lithium, iron, and chlorine for your solid state potato battery - this cathode composition brings self-healing to Solid State Batteries, as reported in Murray's article.

This issue's main theme is Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) which holds promise as a technique for characterizing battery cells, in both factory test and in applications like BESS (battery energy storage systems) and HV traction batteries in EVs. We also covered some aspects of EIS in the Automotive Electrification eBook I had edited back in March.

Also in this issue, we have an overview of the significant impact Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is having in consolidating the Gordian Knot of RF links that are in today's vehicles, bringing low power and precise fob location among other benefits. I've also included our Bluetooth TechXchange in the archives section, which is a compendium of articles we've published if you want to take a deep dive into the topic.

enjoy,

-andyT

p.s. a big thanks to TI for sponsoring this newsletter