Tuesday, March 14, 2023

EV batteries get some bling

Staff Writer | March 13, 2023

Diamonds. (Reference image from Rawpixel).

San Francisco-based NDB Inc. recently announced the launching of its Nano Diamond Battery technology.


The solution, which is an atomic voltaic cell for mid and high-power applications, uses diamonds – the hardest known transducer materials – to harvest energy.

In detail, the device generates electricity similarly to solar cells but, instead, uses radiation from radioactive decay instead of sunlight.

It combines an emitter, the NDB T1 transducer, and a collector that forms an ohmic and Schottky contact.

The energetic radiations released from radioactive decay scatter and deposit energy into the transducing elements. The isotope, together with the host, generates electricity on its own.

Several single units are attached to create a stack arrangement. These make a positive and negative contact surface similar to a standard battery system.

“The key principle of DiD is to create multiple independent and protective layers of defence to compensate for any NDB potential human and mechanical failures,” the company’s website states. “The stacks and the source are coated with a layer of polycrystalline diamond (PCD), which is known for being the most thermally conductive material. It also can contain radiation within the device and is the hardest material, twelve times tougher than stainless steel. This makes our product extremely robust and tamperproof.”

In NDB’s view, the technology has the potential to revolutionize the battery industry with a number of advantages over traditional lithium-ion batteries. Some of the notable features include a longer lifespan, durability and higher energy density.

“We are thrilled to be launching our crowdfunding and bringing NDB to the general public,” said Nima Golsharifi, CEO of NDB. “Our technology, which is protected by three pending patent applications, has the potential to change the sustainability and efficiency of the energy industry. It is an industry game-changer, and we are excited to bring it to market with the support of our investors.”

According to Golsharifi, the solution has already received significant interest from various industries, including electric vehicles, renewable energy systems and defence technology companies.


Botswana intent on selling more diamonds without De Beers

Reuters | March 9, 2023 | 

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi. Credit: Council on Foreign Relations via YouTube

Botswana will not drop its demand to sell a bigger share of the diamonds produced by its joint venture with De Beers, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said on Thursday, raising the stakes in talks to renew a sales deal that expires in June.


Botswana and De Beers mine diamonds under an equally-owned joint venture, Debswana.

Three-quarters of Debswana’s production, which was 24 million carats in 2022, is sold to De Beers. The balance is sold to state-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), which was set up under the current 2011 sales deal as Botswana sought to market gems outside the De Beers system.

Botswana supplies 70% of De Beers’ rough diamonds.

Last month, Masisi threatened to walk away from talks to renew the sales deal unless Botswana gets a larger share of output from the joint venture. He did not specify the size of the share it sought.

Masisi told reporters on Thursday that Botswana had denied itself the opportunity to sell its own diamonds through the 54 year-old joint venture agreement.

He added that the experience of selling diamonds outside the De Beers system, which sells unpolished, or rough, stones, had shown that Botswana could get more revenue.

“Besides the fact that the diamonds are ours, it doesn’t make sense for us to continue to relegate ourselves to participating in the rough space only. So, it’s only logical that we want more and we are going to get more. But through negotiation,” Masisi said.

De Beers chief executive officer Al Cook, who met Masisi in Gaborone on Friday morning, said he had a “constructive discussion” with the president.

“It’s very clear that, front and foremost in the president’s mind is the interest of the Botswana people. We as De Beers want to play our role in a strong, strategic partnership. I’m very confident that this partnership will go forward in a very good way,” Cook told reporters after the meeting.

De Beers says Botswana’s government receives more than 80% of returns from Debswana, including taxes and royalties.

The Anglo American Plc unit, which also has mines in Canada, Namibia and South Africa, sold rough diamonds worth $4.3 billion in 2022, a 13% increase over the 2021 sales. ODC’s sales were $1.2 billion in 2022, up from $963 million in 2021.

(By Brian Benza; Editing by Nelson Banya, Barbara Lewis and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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