Water-in-Salt Electrolytes Embedded in Polyacrylamide Hydrogels: A First Step toward Deformable Sodium-Ion Batteries

The development of flexible, safe, and sustainable energy storage systems is critical for next-generation technologies, including wearable electronics, biomedical devices, and soft robotics. In this work, we provide a systematic investigation of sodium perchlorate-based water-in-salt (WIS) electrolytes embedded in polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogels as a potential platform for deformable sodium-ion batteries or aqueous supercapacitors. Using Raman spectroscopy, we track the transition from free to intermediate water states with increasing salt concentration, identifying the onset of the WIS regime around 10 mol kg–1. Electrochemical measurements reveal that both the aqueous and hydrogel-based electrolytes exhibit a broadened electrochemical stability window (ESW) at higher salt concentrations, reaching up to 2.75 V. Impedance spectroscopy shows that while aqueous electrolytes achieve higher peak conductivity (156 mS cm–1), hydrogel-based electrolytes offer greater stability across a range of concentrations. This observation was supported by cyclic voltammetry, as it showed enhanced electrochemical stability of the PAM hydrogel compared to the aqueous electrolyte. This comprehensive and systematic study demonstrates that highly concentrated WIS electrolytes can be successfully embedded into PAM hydrogels, while preserving good electrochemical stability and ionic conductivity. This could make them a promising foundation for all-hydrogel, sodium-based energy storage devices that are safe, sustainable, and mechanically compliant.