Batteries using a
water-based electrolyte have the potential to
be safer, more durable, less prone to thermal runaways, and less costly
than current lithium batteries using an organic solvent. Among the
possible aqueous battery options, ammonium-ion batteries (AIBs) are
very appealing because the base materials are light, safe, inexpensive,
and widely available. This review gives a concise and useful survey
of recent progress on emerging AIBs, starting with a brief overview
of AIBs, followed by cathode materials, anode materials, electrolytes,
and various devices based on ammonium-ion storage. Aside from summarizing
the most updated electrodes/electrolytes in AIBs, this review highlights
fundamental mechanistic studies in AIBs and state-of-the art applications
of ammonium-ion storage. The present work reviews various theoretical
efforts and the spectrum studies that have been used to explore ionic
transport kinetics, electrolyte structure, solvation behavior of ammonium
ions, and the intercalation mechanism in the host structure. Furthermore,
diverse applications of ammonium-ion storage apart from aqueous AIBs
are discussed, including flexible AIBs, AIBs that can operate across
a wide temperature range, ammonium-ion supercapacitors, and battery–supercapacitor
hybrid devices. Finally, the review is concluded with perspectives
of AIBs, challenges remaining in the field, and possible research
directions to address these challenges to boost the performance of
AIBs for real-world practical applications.