Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
2 min of reading 
0 comments 
Walls That Store Energy? Scientists Develop Zinc Ion Battery Integrated into Concrete Using Geopolymers, with Potential to Transform Walls into Energy Storage Systems.
Transforming walls into devices that store energy may sound like science fiction, but that is the goal of a Franco-Spanish team.
The scientists’ proposal is to integrate energy storage directly into the materials used in construction. The initiative relies on a new electrochemical technology based on geopolymers.
Solution for Intermittent Renewable Energies
The advancement of renewable energies, such as solar and wind, presents a challenge: they are intermittent sources that do not always produce energy when it is most needed. Therefore, there is a growing search for efficient stationary storage solutions.
-
Denmark deploys four 10-meter robot ships to monitor the Baltic Sea, protect submarine cables, and track invisible threats following explosions, sabotage, and rising tensions with Russia.
-
Textron Systems presents the Ripsaw M1, a nearly 2-ton military ground robot designed to fight alongside US Marines, hunt drones, launch munitions, and keep soldiers out of the line of fire.
-
Forget regular asphalt: USA, France, Germany, and Switzerland are starting to test highways with armored solar panels capable of supporting heavy trucks, generating electricity for entire neighborhoods, and transforming 1 km of road into an intelligent solar power plant.
-
Scientists look at the Pacific Ocean and find a signal that worries meteorologists: heat accumulated below the surface may anticipate a strong El Niño, capable of altering rainfall, droughts, and temperatures in various regions of the planet.
The idea of storing energy in concrete already exists, but it has always been limited to thermal solutions, with considered low performance.
Now, researchers propose something more effective. They were inspired by geopolymers—materials already used as sustainable substitutes for traditional cement—to create a new storage system.
Battery Made with Calcined Clay
The research is led by scientists from the Institute of Chemistry of Condensed Matter in Bordeaux, in partnership with the Center for Physics of Materials in Spain.
They developed a solid-state battery, with an electrolyte made from a metakaolin-based geopolymer, a type of calcined clay.
This geopolymer has good mechanical properties and is more environmentally friendly than Portland cement since it emits less CO₂ during its production. The created battery uses zinc at the negative electrode and manganese dioxide at the positive, separated by the geopolymeric matrix.
Activation occurs through a zinc sulfate solution. The porous structure of the geopolymer maintains a liquid phase that allows the transport of Zn²⁺ ions between the electrodes.
Efficiency Still Low, But Promising
The energy density of the new battery reaches 3.3 Wh per liter. This is four times more than batteries made with common concrete, which only reach 0.8 Wh/L. Despite this, the number is still much lower than lithium-ion batteries, which can reach 570 Wh/L.
The difference lies in the integration with the building itself. As the storage is part of the walls, the lower density becomes less relevant.
The project is still in its early stages. Among the challenges are improving zinc stability and enhancing the mechanical strength of the solid electrolyte. Nonetheless, recent advances suggest that these difficulties may be overcome.
The concept, published in the journal Materials Horizons, paves the way for buildings that store their own energy. In the future, electricity could be stored in the bricks themselves.
Be the first to react!