Challenges and Strategies for High‐Energy Aqueous Electrolyte Rechargeable Batteries

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 60; no. 2; pp. 598 - 616
• Main Authors: Zhang, Huang, Liu, Xu, Li, Huihua, Hasa, Ivana, Passerini, Stefano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 11.01.2021; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: aqueous batteries; aqueous electrolyte; Aqueous electrolytes; Batteries; concentrated electrolyte; Electrode materials; Electrolytes; Energy; Energy sources; Flux density; high energy; Lithium; Rechargeable batteries; Renewable energy sources; Review; Reviews; solid–electrolyte interphase; aqueous batteries; solid-electrolyte interphase; concentrated electrolyte; aqueous electrolyte; high energy
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202004433

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. A matter of concentration: The latest ground‐breaking advances and strategies of using concentrated electrolyte for aqueous batteries, are discussed. Emphasis is placed on aqueous batteries for lithium and post‐lithium chemistries, with improved energy density, resulting from the unique properties of salt‐concentrated electrolytes.