The development of safer, more sustainable, and cost-effective battery technologies is currently driving intense interest in aqueous electrolytes. In particular, Water-in-Salt Electrolytes (WISE) have emerged as a major breakthrough for aqueous lithium batteries. However, the long-term viability of lithium-based technologies remains challenged by the scarcity and uneven geographical distribution of lithium resources, motivating the search for alternative chemistries based on more abundant elements such as magnesium.
In this work, we systematically investigate for Mg aqueous batteries the influence of anion nature by studying magnesium salts spanning a broad range of chaotropic and kosmotropic behaviors. By combining infrared and NMR spectroscopies, viscosity measurements, and electrochemical analyses, we provide a comprehensive picture of the relationships between electrolyte composition, solvation structure, transport properties, and electrochemical performance. Particular attention was devoted to advanced NMR acquisition and data treatment in order to establish detailed correlations between viscosity and solvation effects.
Our results reveal a strong dependence of the electrolyte properties on the nature of the anion, with markedly different behaviors for chaotropic and kosmotropic species.
Contact : Magali Gauthier, NIMBE/LEEL
More information : https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/batt.70499
