Abstract
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are eco-friendly and useful bioelectrical devices that harness the natural metabolisms of microbes to produce electrical power directly from organic materials. In this study, a bibliometric analysis is conducted to evaluate MFC research from 2001 to 2018 on the basis of the Science Citation Index Expanded database. Overall, MFC research has experienced a dramatic increase over last 18 years, with an exponential growth in the accumulated number of publications. Most publications are closely related to the industrialization and commoditization of MFCs, along with environmental issues, which are currently the biggest global challenges in MFC studies. A small proportion (4.34%) of the scientific journals published more than half (54.34%) of the total articles in the MFC field. Articles from the top 10 countries/regions accounted for the majority (83.16%) of the total articles, clearly indicating that advanced MFC technologies are currently dominated by these countries/regions. Moreover, an increasing number of MFC researchers are considering two-chamber and three-chamber MFC reactions. In particular, they are focusing on environmental technology instead of merely improving the efficiency of electricity generation. Materials research in the MFC field is still a popular area worldwide, and many researchers have focused on novel and eco-friendly cathode and anode developments. Meanwhile, only a few MFC studies are concerned with biological research.
Funding source: China Scholarship Council
Acknowledgment
Jin Ni gratefully acknowledges the China Scholarship Council for providing the scholarship to support his study at the University of Birmingham from December 2017 to December 2018. The authors gratefully acknowledge Prof. Yuh-Shan Ho for his help in the bibliometric analysis.
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Research funding: China Scholarship Council (CSC).
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Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
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Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
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Informed consent: Not applicable.
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Ethical approval: Not applicable.
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