Materials to harvest energy from space radiation

Materials to harvest energy from space radiation

Space radiation is one of the prime reasons why conditions outside of Earth’s atmosphere are inhospitable. However, space radiation could also be envisioned as a widely untapped additional energy resource that is readily available for harvesting and conversion into electrical energy. Using a combination of state-of-the-art material science, simulation and irradiation techniques, this project therefore aims at designing novel ceramic/polymer composite materials for protection from and energy harvesting of space radiation. The project is paving the way for the development of novel functional materials that use space radiation in ways that are beneficial both in extra-terrestrial environments and on Earth.