Rethinking energy storage
Towards a sustainable future with oxygen ion batteries
Alexander Opitz, Professor of Electrochemical Energy Conversion at the Vienna University of Technology, is researching how oxygen ion batteries can be used as a new type of energy storage system as part of a Christian Doppler Laboratory.
The challenge with renewable energies is that their availability is heavily dependent on the time of day or weather conditions. Electricity is produced when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. However, if the electricity is not needed directly at this time, it remains unused or is at best stored. However, fluctuations caused by production or usage peaks also pose challenges for electricity producers and grid operators time and again.
As part of the Christian Doppler (CD) Laboratory for Oxygen Ion Batteries, an interdisciplinary team led by Alexander Opitz (TU Vienna) is now working together with the energy company VERBUND on innovative storage solutions. Oxygen ion batteries are characterized by resource-saving production, low production costs and a high level of application safety. The CD Laboratory, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy and Tourism, was officially opened on 22 April 2025.
Minister of Economic Affairs Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer underlines the relevance of research: "The challenges of the future can only be mastered with new knowledge and fresh ideas. Innovative electricity storage systems play a central role in this. The CD Laboratory is making an important contribution to this with its basic research into safe and resource-saving oxygen ion batteries. This not only strengthens our energy supply, but also Austria as a science location. It is particularly important that we focus on Austria's strengths - diligence, inventiveness and a high level of scientific expertise. I wish Alexander Opitz and his team every success in this important task."
A ceramic thin film in the form of the TU Wien logo printed by inkjet on an oxide electrolyte single crystal. Inkjet printing is one of the methods investigated in this CD laboratory to produce ceramic thin films for oxygen ion batteries in a cost-effective and scalable way.
© TUW/Matthias Heisler
Ceramics as a game changer
In contrast to conventional batteries, oxygen ion batteries do not require the critical elements lithium or cobalt. Instead, abundant ceramic materials are used, which reduces geopolitical dependencies. In addition, oxygen ion batteries are neither flammable nor toxic. The flammability of currently available battery types (such as sodium-sulphur or lithium-ion batteries) is a particular sticking point for large-scale storage systems. While lithium batteries were specifically developed for mobile use and have to meet corresponding requirements such as low weight, storage systems for stationary use can be detached from these requirements. This is particularly relevant for energy suppliers such as VERBUND, which provide a large proportion of their energy from renewable sources and want to use large-scale stationary batteries to shift electrical energy from times of high production to times of high demand.
The idea of using ceramic materials for batteries came about more by chance, recalls CD laboratory manager Alexander Opitz: "It was only when we changed our perspective on the material we were actually investigating for fuel and electrolysis cell applications that we saw that our ceramics can have a similar capacity to conventional lithium-ion battery materials under certain conditions. In other words, they can store a similar amount of energy."
Charge transport through oxygen ions
Oxygen ion batteries work by filling empty spaces in the storing electrode material with oxygen ions. However, the oxygen is not exchanged with the atmosphere, but is shifted back and forth between the two storage electrodes of the cell in the form of oxide ions.
In order for the new technology to work, it must be sealed off from the ambient air and operated at temperatures of 300 to 500 °C. This temperature is necessary for the oxygen ions to be able to store energy. This temperature is necessary so that the oxygen ions in the ceramic materials used are sufficiently mobile and can move from one electrode to the other. If these boundary conditions are met, the entire process is completely reversible - in other words, the oxygen ions that were moved from the negative to the positive electrode when the battery was charged can move back again when it is discharged. This process can theoretically be repeated as often as required.
For use as a stationary storage battery, which shifts the midday production peaks of photovoltaics into the evening hours, for example, this "back-and-forth migration" of oxygen ions between the two storage electrodes of the cell would have to take place once a day.
Michael Strugl, CEO of VERBUND, adds: "Energy transformation is one of the greatest challenges of our time. It requires not only new technologies, but above all continuous, intensive research. By working together with the scientific community, for example in the Christian Doppler Laboratory, we can help innovations such as the oxygen ion battery to become marketable more quickly and thus contribute to solving the energy storage problem."
If the energy cannot be stored, the output of power plants must be deliberately reduced so as not to overload the electricity grids. This results in valuable energy being lost that would be urgently needed later. New types of electricity storage are therefore of great importance for the expansion of renewable energies.
TU Wien and VERBUND are therefore highly motivated to create the scientific basis for developing oxygen ion batteries into a powerful alternative to existing battery technologies that is easy to manufacture and scale. In addition to large-scale storage systems for electricity producers and grid operators themselves, their use for home storage systems would also be conceivable.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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