Ion-Chemistry-Driven Performance of Biocompatible Inorganic Salts for Aqueous Energy Storage

The discovery of safe, sustainable, and biocompatible electrolytes is crucial in the development of aqueous energy storage devices. Natural inorganic salts have huge potential to replace standard electrolytes. These salts are nontoxic, environmentally compatible, and readily available in large quantities. However, minimal focus has been given to the electrochemical properties of these salts in the past. Salt chemistry is critical in the energy storage domain. This research article is primarily focused on the analysis of four naturally occurring salts: sodium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, and calcium chloride in terms of using these salts for the development of aqueous electrolyte solutions in the field of energy storage devices. The article discusses the ionic conductivity of these salts as a way to determine each salt's suitability for electrical conduction in aqueous form. It further analyzes their charge-discharge characteristics towards determining and comparing thehir suitability for energy storage. A detailed analysis of the advantages and limitation of using monovalent or divalent salt chemistry in the aqueous-based electrolyte solution is critically analyzed as part of the results discussion.