Challenges and Strategies for High-Energy Aqueous Electrolyte Rechargeable Batteries

Aqueous rechargeable batteries are becoming increasingly important to the development of renewable energy sources, because they promise to meet cost-efficiency, energy and power demands for stationary applications. Over the past decade, efforts have been devoted to the improvement of electrode materials and their use in combination with highly concentrated aqueous electrolytes. Here the latest ground-breaking advances in using such electrolytes to construct aqueous battery systems efficiently storing electrical energy, i.e., offering improved energy density, cyclability and safety, are highlighted. This Review aims to timely provide a summary of the strategies proposed so far to overcome the still existing hurdles limiting the present aqueous batteries technologies employing concentrated electrolytes. Emphasis is placed on aqueous batteries for lithium and post-lithium chemistries, with potentially improved energy density, resulting from the unique advantages of concentrated electrolytes.

Automated summary

Aqueous rechargeable batteries are becoming crucial for the development of renewable energy sources, as they offer improved energy density, cyclability, and safety through the use of advanced electrode materials and highly concentrated aqueous electrolytes. This review focuses on the advancements in constructing efficient aqueous battery systems with concentrated electrolytes, aiming to overcome existing hurdles and enhance the performance of lithium and post-lithium chemistry batteries.