Designing Tomorrow's Aqueous Batteries: A Holistic Blueprint for Performance and Scalability

Aqueous batteries are attracting attention for large-scale energy storage due to their intrinsic safety, low cost, and environmental compatibility. Nevertheless, their practical implementation remains constrained by challenges associated with narrow electrochemical stability windows, interfacial degradation, and electrolyte-electrode compatibility. This review employs LLM meta-analysis of 2847 studies to provide a data-driven, system-level blueprint for designing safe, scalable, and high-performance aqueous rechargeable batteries. By comparatively examining representative aqueous battery chemistries, including Li⁺-, Na⁺-, Zn²⁺-, Al³⁺-, and NH₄ ⁺-based systems, key structure-performance relationships governing ion transport, cycling stability, and degradation mechanisms are identified. Recent advances in electrolyte engineering and interfacial stabilization strategies are highlighted, and critical design principles for durable and scalable aqueous batteries are summarized, offering practical guidance for future materials development and technology deployment.