The search for enhanced energy density is fueling global research in battery science and engineering, where applications spanning consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and grid-scale energy storage are stimulating enormous industrial growth. While higher-energy-density batteries will combat range anxiety hampering EV adoption, it is not the only metric of importance; across a breadth of applications from implanted devices to space exploration, there are various requirements for safer, cheaper, and more durable batteries, as well as those that can be sourced from widely available materials and readily recycled. In this issue of Joule, Zhou and co-workers outline a 500 Wh/kg battery based on anionic redox between Li₂O and Li₂O₂, demonstrated at the pouch cell level, providing a new benchmark for gravimetric energy density.

对提高能量密度的追求推动了电池科学和工程学的全球研究，其中消费电子，电动汽车和电网规模的储能领域的应用正在刺激巨大的工业增长。虽然高能量密度的电池将克服阻碍电动汽车采用的范围焦虑症，但这并不是唯一重要的衡量标准。从植入式设备到太空探索的广泛应用，对于更安全，更便宜，更耐用的电池，以及从可广泛使用的材料中获取并易于回收的电池，存在各种要求。在本期《焦耳》中，周及其同事概述了一种基于Li ₂ O和Li ₂ O ₂之间的阴离子氧化还原的500 Wh / kg电池。在袋式细胞级进行了展示，为重量能量密度提供了新的基准。