Two researchers–a former Los Alamos National Laboratory engineer and an Alabama A&M University researcher–have developed highly efficient nanotube-based tile materials that can convert radiation, not heat, from nuclear materials into electricity.

The tiles are made of carbon nanotubes packed with gold and surrounded by lithium hydride. Radioactive particles slamming into the gold push out a shower of high-energy electrons that pass into the lithium hydride and then into electrodes, allowing current to flow.

Electricity from nuclear power is usually made by heating steam to rotate turbines that generate electricity.