Transition Metal Oxides as Promising Air‐Cathode Catalysts of Li‐Air Batteries: A State‐of‐the‐Art Review

Abstract Lithium‐air batteries (LABs) are considered promising next‐generation energy storage systems due to their exceptionally high theoretical energy density. Major obstacles to practical application, however, include poor cycle stability, parasitic reactions, cathode degradation, and slow oxygen reduction and evolution reaction (ORR/OER) kinetics. Transition metal oxides (TMOs) have become very successful cathode catalysts for boosting the electrochemical performance of LABs through the improvement of ORR/OER kinetics, the mitigation of overpotentials, and the reduction of pore clogging. Recent developments in TMO‐based cathode catalysts are highlighted in this thorough analysis, along with their potential to solve the basic drawbacks. The link between structure and performance, redox behavior, and the effect of nanoengineering on TMO catalytic efficiency is highlighted. This review also identifies critical research gaps, such as a limited understanding of intermediate mechanisms and an overemphasis on catalytic effects without integrating redox behavior. In addition, future directions include hybrid catalysts, redox mediators, binder‐free electrode design, and computational modeling, which is comprehensively analyzed. Hence, the successful use of TMOs has enormous potential to move LABs closer to commercial viability in portable electronics, grid‐scale storage, and electric cars.