Usage life and recharging time are two important factors before buying a smartphone. On modern devices if it can last until bedtime, it's considered good enough. But if you forget to charge it will cause problems the next day. In China the company Betavolt announced the success of building a nuclear battery that can last up to 50 years without needing to be charged.
This battery uses the Nickel-63 isotope that produces a power of 100 microwatts and a voltage of 3V. It is only 15x15x15 millimeters in size which is very compact. Betavolt is confident that they will be able to produce batteries with a power of 1W by 2025. When assembled in series, higher power is produced. If all goes well smartphones that don't need to be charged and drones that fly forever will become a reality.
Nuclear batteries have been developed since 1914 with two versions, one converts the heat resulting from the radioactive decay process into electrical power using thermocouples. Another uses beta particles to move electrons in a semiconductor material to produce current.
You may not realize that nuclear batteries of the beta particle type have been around since the 1970s with them being used as batteries for pacemakers in the human body. The difference with the Betavolt battery is that the battery power is lower by around 1 microwatt and only lasts for 12.5 years.