“If you need a large energy storage unit to temporarily store solar or wind energy, for example, the oxygen-ion battery could be an excellent solution,” says Alexander Schmid. “If you construct an entire building full of energy storage modules, the lower energy density and increased operating temperature do not play a decisive role. But the strengths of our battery would be particularly important there: the long service life, the possibility of producing large quantities of these materials without rare elements, and the fact that there is no fire hazard with these batteries.”

Tests done on full cells of the oxygen-ion batteries showed volumetric energy densities of up to 140 milliwatt-hours per cubic centimeter, which corresponds to about 30 percent of the volumetric energy density of today’s lithium-ion batteries.

Reliance on oxygen ions to store energy gives the new chemistry a unique advantage over lithium, though. “Oxygen is abundant in the atmosphere,” says Schmid. “Lithium-ion batteries often lose capacity because ions are lost due to side reactions and parasitic current. This can also happen in oxygen-ion battery but we can regenerate any lost oxygen simply from the atmosphere.”

New Battery Could be Grid Storage Solution | Climate Denial Crock of the Week