Electrolytes for Batteries with Earth-Abundant Metal Anodes

Earth-abundant metal anodes have become one of the hottest topics in recent years. As alternatives to lithium metals, earth-abundant metal anodes have significantly lower cost and higher energy density, but with unprecedented problems that cannot be solved by simply referring to experiences with lithium-metal anodes. The electrolytes for these anodes greatly influence the overall performance, such as Coulombic efficiency, stability, and even the availability to become an anode. In this Minireview, some excellent state-of-art works on the electrolytes of energy-storage systems with sodium-, potassium-, magnesium-, calcium-, and aluminum-metal anodes are concisely summarized. The performance of these systems is highlighted by the rational design of the electrolyte and electrolyte/electrode interface.