Electrochemical performance of an aqueous rechargeable lithium battery (ARLB) containing a LiV3O8 (negative electrode) and LiCoO2 (positive electrode) in saturated LiNO3 aqueous electrolyte was studied. These two electrode materials are stable in the aqueous solution and intercalation/deintercalation of lithium ions occurs within the window of electrochemical stability of water. The obtained capacity of this cell system is about 55 mAh/g based on the mass of the positive electrode, which is lower than the corresponding one in the non-aqueous lithium ion battery. However, its specific capacity can be compared with those of the lead acid and Ni-Cd batteries. In addition, initial results show that this cell system is good in cycling. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.