The knowledge contributions from science to technology on lithium-ion batteries from the industry chain view

Abstract

The lithium-ion industry chain comprises multiple links such as battery components, battery (pack) and management, and recycling. Each link has its features, and they are interlinked. Industry chain development cannot be separated from the mutual promotion of all links in the industry chain. The scientific and technological innovation of the lithium-ion battery chain is widely studied because it is considered one of the most promising energy storage systems. Moreover, scientific development is widely considered to promote technological innovation, and the contribution of knowledge from science to technology is studied by analyzing citations from patents to papers. However, there are two research gaps. First, there is little research on the contributions of science and technology in the lithium-ion battery field. The second gap is the lack of an industrial chain view in the study of science–technology linkages. Therefore, this study proposed a framework to reveal the knowledge contributions from science to technology from the industry chain view and applied it to the lithium-ion battery industry. The findings are summarized as follows: (1) A total of 130 topics were mined, summarized, and classified from the industry view. The electrode, battery management and electrolyte are relatively complex and are more discussed, especially regarding the electrode. (2) Knowledge contributions from science to technology have concentrated on the electrolyte, electrode and battery management. The knowledge contributions from paper topics on the electrode to patent topics on the electrode are the strongest. Patent inventors who focus on these three elements should refer to science on this element and science on the other two elements. Besides, policy- makers could promulgate promotion policies to stimulate the scientific development of these three elements, especially for the electrode. (3) Garnet-type ceramic sintering was the topic that had the greatest contributions in 2017 and 2018, and the patent topic to which it contributed as the most was “garnet-type ceramic sintering. Silicon has a consistently high degree of knowledge interaction between science and technology. These findings could serve as a reference for policy-makers when making incentive policies and scholars when selecting research content.