Advancing electrolyte engineering for durable and affordable aqueous batteries

• Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries (AZIBs) are water-electrolyte rechargeables positioned as low-cost, non-flammable alternatives to lithium-ion for grid-scale renewable energy storage.
• Indian researchers (Ministry of Science & Technology ecosystem) have advanced electrolyte additive / interface engineering to suppress zinc dendrites, hydrogen evolution and corrosion — the four main failure modes blocking AZIB commercialization.
• For UPSC: intersects GS-III (energy security, indigenous R&D, science & tech) and GS-II (governance of S&T institutions under DST) — a textbook example of frugal innovation supporting India's renewable & net-zero 2070 push.