Charge carriers are fundamental components of batteries that determine battery chemistry and performance. Non-metallic charge carriers provide an alternative to metallic charge carriers in aqueous batteries, enabling fast kinetics, long cyclic lifetime and low manufacturing costs. Non-metallic charge carriers not only can be inserted into the electrode framework, where they establish covalent–ionic bonds, but can also serve as reversible redox centres for charge transfer, resulting in superior performance compared with metallic charge carrier-based devices. In this Review, we discuss cationic and anionic non-metallic charge carriers, their physicochemical properties, charge storage mechanisms and electrode interactions. We examine battery configurations of non-metallic charge carrier-based devices and analyse battery performance based on costs, capacity, working potential, rate capability and cycling stability. Finally, we highlight design strategies for aqueous batteries based on non-metallic charge carriers and future applications.

电荷载体是决定电池化学性质和性能的电池的基本组成部分。非金属电荷载体可替代水性电池中的金属电荷载体，从而实现快速动力学，较长的循环寿命和较低的制造成本。非金属电荷载体不仅可以插入电极框架中，它们在其中建立共价离子键，而且还可以用作电荷转移的可逆氧化还原中心，因此与基于金属电荷载体的设备相比，性能优越。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了阳离子和阴离子非金属电荷载体，其理化性质，电荷存储机制和电极相互作用。我们会检查基于非金属电荷载体的设备的电池配置，并根据成本分析电池性能，容量，工作潜力，速率能力和循环稳定性。最后，我们重点介绍了基于非金属电荷载体的水性电池的设计策略和未来的应用。