Design Strategies and Recent Advancements for Low-Temperature Aqueous Rechargeable Energy Storage

Aqueous rechargeable energy storage (ARES) has received tremendous attention in recent years due to its intrinsic merits of low cost, high safety, and environmental friendliness. However, the relatively higher freezing point of conventional aqueous electrolytes results in sluggish kinetics and inferior ion transport efficiency under low temperature, severely restricting their further development and practical applications. In order to deal with the existing issues, the design principles to develop low-temperature ARES with excellent performance are discussed in-depth and precisely classified, primarily with respect to electrode modification and electrolyte regulation. In addition, the related studies about low-temperature ARES are systematically and comprehensively summarized. Finally, the critical bottlenecks, some suggestions, and future perspectives are also provided, which will help to address the current challenges of low-temperature ARES. This review is expected to deepen the fundamental understanding of low-temperature ARES and offer guiding suggestions to boost their future applications.

Automated summary

Due to the higher freezing point of conventional aqueous electrolytes, the development and practical applications of aqueous rechargeable energy storage (ARES) at low temperature are limited. In this paper, the design principles for low-temperature ARES with excellent performance are discussed, especially in terms of electrode modification and electrolyte regulation. The related studies on low-temperature ARES are comprehensively summarized, and suggestions for addressing the current challenges are provided.