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Topic · Water Science and Technology

Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal

Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal is a research topic within Water Science and Technology. Science Explorer counts 56k research works in it since 1950. 9.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the adsorption of contaminants in water and wastewater, with a specific emphasis on surface area evaluation, pore size distribution, biochar as a sorbent, removal of heavy metals and dyes, use of nanomaterials, and biosorption techniques. The papers cover various aspects of adsorption kinetics, isotherm models, low-cost adsorbents, and the application of different materials for efficient water treatment.

  • Adsorption
  • Contaminant Removal
  • Wastewater Treatment
  • Surface Area
  • Pore Size Distribution
  • Biochar
  • Heavy Metals
  • Dye Removal
  • Nanomaterials
  • Biosorption
Research works
56k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
5.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+26%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
45% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal

Which countries lead Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (5.5k and 2.2k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 5.5k works
  2. 2 India 2.2k works
  3. 3 Indonesia 716 works
  4. 4 Iran 712 works
  5. 5 Egypt 637 works
  6. 6 Türkiye 612 works
  7. 7 Saudi Arabia 574 works
  8. 8 Brazil 484 works
  9. 9 United States 456 works
  10. 10 Malaysia 446 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 44.7%India: 17.7%Indonesia: 5.8%Iran: 5.8%6 others listed: 26.0%45%largest
China5,514 · 44.7%India2,179 · 17.7%Indonesia716 · 5.8%Iran712 · 5.8%6 others listed3,210 · 26.0%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal research, followed by Islamic Azad University, Tehran and King Saud University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 201 works
  2. 2 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 113 works
  3. 3 King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 95 works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 90 works
  5. 5 Central South UniversityChina 85 works
  6. 6 Kunming University of Science and TechnologyChina 81 works
  7. 7 Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesChina 72 works
  8. 8 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 64 works
  9. 9 Guangxi UniversityChina 61 works
  10. 10 University of BaghdadIraq 60 works

Who are the leading researchers in Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal include Wei Huang, John C. Morris and Kai You Wang.

  1. 1 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  2. 2 John C. Morris United States 241k citations
  3. 3 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  4. 4 Jiaguo Yu China 207k citations
  5. 5 Guangming Zeng China 204k citations
  6. 6 Mercouri G. Kanatzidis United States 196k citations
  7. 7 Hua Zhang Singapore 196k citations
  8. 8 Seeram Ramakrishna Singapore 186k citations
  9. 9 David Julian McClements United States 185k citations
  10. 10 Qiang Zhang China 184k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal?

The most cited paper in Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal is "Pseudo-second order model for sorption processes" (Yuh‐Shan Ho, Gordon McKay, 1999), with 17,540 citations. Next come "Removal of heavy metal ions from wastewaters: A review" (8,678) and "Insights into the modeling of adsorption isotherm systems" (8,423).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Pseudo-second order model for sorption processes Yuh‐Shan Ho, Gordon McKay · Process Biochemistry Jul 1999 17,540
2 Removal of heavy metal ions from wastewaters: A review Fenglian Fu, Qi Wang · Journal of Environmental Management 8 Dec 2010 8,678
3 Insights into the modeling of adsorption isotherm systems Keng Yuen Foo, Bassim H. Hameed · Chemical Engineering Journal 14 Sep 2009 8,423
4 Biochar as a sorbent for contaminant management in soil and water: A review Mahtab Ahmad, Anushka Upamali Rajapaksha, Jung Eun Lim et al. · Chemosphere 27 Nov 2013 4,623
5 Non-conventional low-cost adsorbents for dye removal: A review Grégorio Crini · Bioresource Technology 30 Jun 2005 4,508
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal research done?

The largest centres of Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Nanjing (China), Wuhan (China) and Tehran (Iran). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Vanderbijlpark, Karatay and Batman.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 720 works
  2. 2 NanjingChina 308 works
  3. 3 WuhanChina 255 works
  4. 4 TehranIran 244 works
  5. 5 CairoEgypt 217 works
  6. 6 RiyadhSaudi Arabia 195 works
  7. 7 GuangzhouChina 186 works
  8. 8 Xi'anChina 183 works
  9. 9 ChangshaChina 183 works
  10. 10 ShanghaiChina 176 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. VanderbijlparkZA · 27.6 works39×
  2. KaratayTR · 22.0 works19×
  3. BatmanTR · 20.1 works14×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal than the world average.

See Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal on the map

Where is the best place to study Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal?

Among universities, judged by research, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, King Saud University and Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 26.27%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Manipal Academy of H…King Fahd University…Imam Mohammad ibn Sa…King Saud University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsSaudi Arabia 73.226.6%9.2×51 +33.6%
2King Saud UniversitySaudi Arabia 69.511.6%6.1×95 +76.7%
3Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic UniversitySaudi Arabia 67.719.8%14.4×43 +1333.9%
4Manipal Academy of Higher EducationIndia 67.535.9%3.0×34 +112.6%
5Northeast Agricultural UniversityChina 65.529.0%8.0×33 +43.8%
6Damietta UniversityEgypt 65.240.5%9.0×12 +84.6%
7Yeungnam UniversitySouth Korea 64.528.1%5.9×21 +455.7%
8Qatar UniversityQatar 64.325.0%5.3×24 +30.4%
9Saveetha UniversityIndia 64.120.5%3.6×54 +2169.0%
10Université Mohammed VI PolytechniqueMorocco 61.725.7%11.8×16 +300.0%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal, country by country

Is Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 26% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.074% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal0.074% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal9.8% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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