In the crushing depths of the ocean or the vacuum of deep space, one of the key threats to technology is the fading battery.
A South Australian engineering firm, entX, is now moving to solve this energy problem by 3D-printing nuclear batteries that could run for years without a single charge.
The company is transitioning its GenX Betavoltaic Power Generator from a laboratory prototype to a pre-commercial reality. It is being developed in collaboration with the University of Adelaide.
“This $1.8m project is a clear example of how additive manufacturing can take breakthrough research and make it manufacturable at scale,” said Simon Marriott, Managing Director of the Additive Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre.
“By supporting the transition from laboratory prototype to integrated production, AMCRC is helping Australian innovators bring world-leading technologies to market faster and with lower risk,” Marriott added.
GenX nuclear battery prototype
In environments where the sun doesn’t shine and humans can’t reach, standard batteries eventually fail.
Whether it’s a drone patrolling the deep ocean or a sensor buried in a remote desert, the lack of refueling and solar access creates a power bottleneck that limits how long — and how far — missions can go.
Researchers describe GenX as the “next-generation nuclear battery.” It uses additive manufacturing to cram unprecedented levels of energy into a compact, ultra-tough frame.
Standard nuclear generators, like those powering the Mars rovers, are often bulky heat engines. These rely on the heat released by decaying plutonium to generate electricity.
GenX is different. It uses betavoltaics.
“GenX fundamentally changes what’s possible. By re-engineering betavoltaics as ultra-thin, additively manufactured devices, we’re achieving power densities that were previously out of reach and enabling entirely new mission profiles,” said Dr Scott Edwards, entX General Manager, Space and Defense.
GenX will merge 3D printing with precision thin-film deposition. The method will stack nanoscale layers of metal and semiconductors into complex architectures. The process builds high-performance “energy sandwiches” from the ground up.
This hybrid approach enables ultra-thin betavoltaic films that shatter existing power benchmarks and turns surface engineering into a layer-by-layer construction method.
“This is not an incremental improvement – it’s a genuine step-change,” said Professor Drew Evans, who helped develop the GenX prototype.
“By combining novel semiconductor deposition methods with additive manufacturing and surface engineering, we’ve demonstrated betavoltaic devices with power densities that simply weren’t achievable using conventional approaches,” added Evans, who will lead the project at Adelaide University.
Long-duration missions
Over the next 14 months, entX and Adelaide University will scale their laboratory prototype into a commercial-grade production line.
To bridge the gap between nuclear power and field safety, the team is using 3D printing to create custom radiation shields. These precision-engineered encasements act as a protective suit, allowing the battery to be safely installed in everything from satellites to submersibles
If all goes as planned, then Australia expects to deliver a world-first, high-power betavoltaic demonstrator soon.
“It will unlock new applications across space, defense and remote systems, and establish sovereign capability in strategically important technology areas,” according to Professor Evans.
“As global demand grows for long-duration, maintenance-free power systems, GenX demonstrates how additive manufacturing is enabling entirely new classes of products, turning Australia’s research strengths into globally competitive manufacturing outcomes,” Evans added.
In the defense world, this means covert sensors that can remain buried for years, still transmitting data without giving away their position with a noisy generator.
In space, it means rovers that can survive the brutal, two-week-long lunar night where solar panels are useless.