Deng et al.'s “Recent Advances in Rocking Chair Batteries and Beyond” recently appeared in Energy Storage Materials. The review article focuses on the recent advances in different types of rocking chair batteries, systematically summarizing the similarities and differences among ten types of rocking chair batteries (e.g., proton batteries) and discussing the possibility of replacing commercial lithium-ion batteries with the state-of-the-art rocking chair battery systems. This work is done by an international team and the team is led by Guo-Ming Weng, associate professor of Shanghai Key Laboratory of Hydrogen Science & Center of Hydrogen Science, School of Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and André D. Taylor, professor of Tandon School of Engineering at New York University. The abstract appears below.

“Rocking chair batteries (RCBs) are prominent energy storage systems for applications of electric vehicles and electronic devices due to their potentially high energy densities and long cycle life. In RCBs, the charge carriers shuttle back and forth between the positive and negative electrodes during operation without causing a significant change in the electrolyte composition, namely the rocking mechanism. Over the past few years, researchers have reported a variety of promising RCBs based on metal-ion (e.g. Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Zn²⁺, Ca²⁺, and Al³⁺) and nonmetal-ion (e.g. NH₄⁺, Cl⁻ and H⁺) charge carriers. Moreover, the electrode material is gradually beyond the intercalated mechanism. In this review, the critical works of different RCB systems in the recent five years are discussed to provide a full picture of the cutting-edge research frontiers. Then the emphasis is given to their challenges and prospects. Together, this review could provide scientific insights for the development of unique, safe, low-cost, and high-performance RCBs.

Figure 1. In rocking chair batteries, the future is “open” and has infinite possibilities.

This work is supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFC3900700), Shanghai Key Laboratory of Hydrogen Science & Center of Hydrogen Science of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Shanghai High-Level Oversea Talents Award, etc.

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