The Design of Chemically Self-Charging Aqueous Batteries

The chemically self-charging aqueous batteries are regarded as potential candidates for off-grid energy storage devices due to their environmental independence and simple construction. Although tremendous research efforts have been recently made to design chemically self-charging aqueous batteries, a comprehensive review about them is still absent. This review describes the design principles of chemically self-charging aqueous batteries and their self-charging mechanism. The advances in their cathode materials mainly include transition-metal oxides or sulfides, Prussian blue analogues, and organic compounds. Subsequently, the strategies of enhancing chemically self-charging kinetics are highlighted, including the design of materials, selection of oxidants, and the introduction of catalysts. In addition, various applications of chemically self-charging batteries are also discussed in wearable electronic devices, low temperatures, and all-pH scenarios. In the final section, the challenges and future perspectives are presented for designing high-performance chemically self-charging aqueous batteries. It will shed light on the R&D of chemically self-charging aqueous batteries.