Aqueous rechargeable batteries use water-based electrolytes and offer safety, robustness, and environmental friendliness over lithium-ion batteries that feature flammable organic electrolytes. However their adoption is plagued by the poor cycle life due to the structural and chemical instability of the anode materials. We will report several quinones (oxidized derivatives of aromatic compounds) as anodes for high-performance aqueous batteries. These quinones are shown to operate with long cycle life under various chemical and thermal environments. Another application of quinones is in all-solid-state batteries. One main challenge is the intrinsic mismatch between low anodic decomposition potential of sulfide electrolytes and high operating potentials of cathodes which leads to a volatile cathode–electrolyte interface and undesirable cell performance. We will report how we tailor quinones as a high-capacity cathode material in all-solid-state batteries that is chemically and electrochemically compatible with sulfide electrolyte.