RAPOSA, Audrey Dei O.

ChE 143 Homework #2

Quantitative Literature Review and Knowledge Map
September 3, 2016
1. There are 706 papers published on metal-air batteries as of this date.
2. Below is a table on the number of papers on metal-air batteries published yearon-year, since the very first publication on this topic in 1968.
Year
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992

# of
papers
128
172
108
78
41
28
20
10
10
12
11
5
5
4
2
0
4
2
1
1
1
2
3
2
1

Year
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
1979
1978
1977
1976
1975
1974
1973
1972
1971
1970
1969
1968

# of
papers
2
1
3
1
1
1
6
4
7
3
3
5
2
1
4
1
1
1
2
3
0
2
0
1

We can see clearly from the graph that the number of papers published per year
increases exponentially, from only one paper in 1968 to 172 papers published in
2015 and 128 papers published this year at 67% time-gone. This indicates that there
is so much interest in metal air batteries in improving the design, its components,
(and exploring other components), and improving its overall efficiency and
effectiveness at a cost efficient way.
3. The top 3 authors in terms of publication on the topic are Zhongwei Chen with 17
publications, Ruizhi Yang with 16, and Yang Shao-Horn with 14 publications. In
terms of the number of citations, the authors with the top 3 highest are Strasser,
P., Koh, S., Anniyev, T., Greeley, J., More, K., Yu, C., Liu, Z., Kaya, S., Nordlund,
D., Ogasawara H., Toney, M.F., and Nilsson, A. with 794 citations, followed by
Suntivich, J., May, K.J., Gasteiger, H.A., Goodenough, J.B., Shao-Horn, Y. cited
by 713 publications, and Cheng F., and Chen J. with 503 citations.
4. China has the most number of research works done with 208 publications on
metal-air battery.
5. The literature review revealed that different metals were explored in metal-air
battery systems. Some of the notable materials used are zinc, aluminum, lithium,
silicon. A fuel cell setup was used in order to compare the different metal options.
Ultimately, the price and the performance were the main factors considered in
selecting the final material. Other components were also tried. For the choice of
electrolytes, sodium chloride, potassium hydroxide, and water were explored.
Several studies on the components (choice of anode, electrolyte), design
(circuitry and design parameters) and performance improvement are being
studied.

6. Some of the gaps in the research as well as the areas for improvement are the
following:
Improvement of the current performances of Zn-Air

Study & Development of new M-Air systems: Al-Air, Fe-Air, V-Air, Na-Air

The development of electrically rechargeable M-Air batteries

Improvement of the reversibility of the Metal-Oxygen reactions

7. Given the time and resources I have, I plan to address the first gap/area for
improvement. Improvement of the current performances of Zn-air batteries
include using a more effective (but not as expensive) catalyst, reassessment of
the circuitry of the device where the battery is intended to be used, and overall
improvement in the design so as to hasten the reaction (ORR), since this is the
rate-limiting step.
Reference:
1. Scopus (n.d.). Retrieved September 01, 2016, from https://www.scopus.com/