Trends and emerging directions in battery manufacturing: A comprehensive bibliometric analysis

Abstract

The expansive literature on battery manufacturing makes it challenging to identify recent trends and research priorities without advanced analytical techniques. Bibliometric analysis, leveraging text mining of author keywords, titles, and abstracts, provides a systematic approach to processing vast amounts of data. In this study, battery manufacturing research from the last decade was examined using techniques such as word clouds, co-occurrence networks, and trend analysis. The findings indicate that Singapore, Australia, and the USA lead in research impact, as reflected by higher average citation counts. The literature predominantly focuses on cell manufacturing, particularly for lithium-ion batteries. However, emerging technologies such as lithium-metal, solid-state, aqueous zinc-ion, and zinc-metal batteries have gained attention in recent years. Among components, anodes were the most studied, especially for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries, with significant focus on materials like graphene and carbon. Anode-free batteries are identified as an emerging trend, while solid-state battery research emphasizes interface engineering for solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) stability and the use of lithium lanthanum zirconate (LLZO) electrolytes. Performance improvement remains the dominant theme, encompassing innovations in thermal management and battery management systems (BMS). Recent years have also seen growing interest in smart manufacturing and sustainability topics, including life cycle assessment (LCA), second-life applications, disassembly, and recycling. Tab manufacturing research highlights advancements in multi-layer welding and tensile shear load assessment to improve mechanical strength and quality.