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Topic · Spectroscopy

Aerogels and thermal insulation

Aerogels and thermal insulation is a research topic within Spectroscopy. Science Explorer counts 16k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the chemistry, synthesis, properties, and diverse applications of aerogels, including silica and carbon aerogels. It covers topics such as thermal insulation, nanocomposites, biodegradable carriers for drug delivery systems, and the potential use of aerogels in various industries.

  • Aerogels
  • Synthesis
  • Properties
  • Applications
  • Thermal Insulation
  • Silica
  • Carbon
  • Nanocomposites
  • Biodegradable Carriers
  • Drug Delivery Systems
Research works
16k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+53%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
66% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Aerogels and thermal insulation

Which countries lead Aerogels and thermal insulation research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (2.4k and 266 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 2.4k works
  2. 2 United States 266 works
  3. 3 India 253 works
  4. 4 Russia 145 works
  5. 5 South Korea 115 works
  6. 6 Japan 109 works
  7. 7 France 101 works
  8. 8 Germany 98 works
  9. 9 Iran 86 works
  10. 10 Türkiye 85 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: 65.7%United States: 7.2%India: 6.9%Russia: 4.0%6 others listed: 16.2%66%largest
China2,410 · 65.7%United States266 · 7.2%India253 · 6.9%Russia145 · 4.0%6 others listed593 · 16.2%

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

Which institutions lead Aerogels and thermal insulation research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Aerogels and thermal insulation research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and Donghua University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 101 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 59 works
  3. 3 Donghua UniversityChina 54 works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 53 works
  5. 5 Nanjing Tech UniversityChina 40 works
  6. 6 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 40 works
  7. 7 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 39 works
  8. 8 Sichuan UniversityChina 38 works
  9. 9 South China University of TechnologyChina 38 works
  10. 10 Central South UniversityChina 31 works

Who are the leading researchers in Aerogels and thermal insulation?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Aerogels and thermal insulation include Yury G. Gogotsi, Wei Huang and Yi Ping Cui.

  1. 1 Yury G. Gogotsi United States 313k citations
  2. 2 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  3. 3 Yi Ping Cui United States 261k citations
  4. 4 Omar M. Yaghi United States 254k citations
  5. 5 Rodney S. Ruoff United States 231k citations
  6. 6 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  7. 7 Lei Jiang China 214k citations
  8. 8 Jiaguo Yu China 207k citations
  9. 9 Mercouri G. Kanatzidis United States 196k citations
  10. 10 Hua Zhang Singapore 196k 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 Aerogels and thermal insulation?

The most cited paper in Aerogels and thermal insulation is "Carbon-based materials as supercapacitor electrodes" (Lili Zhang, Xin Zhao, 2009), with 7,456 citations. Next come "Light-induced amphiphilic surfaces" (3,391) and "Synthesis of Highly Ordered Carbon Molecular Sieves via Template-Mediated Structural Transformation" (2,449).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Carbon-based materials as supercapacitor electrodes Lili Zhang, Xin Zhao · Chemical Society Reviews Review 2009 7,456
2 Light-induced amphiphilic surfaces Rong Wang, Kazuhito Hashimoto, Akira Fujishima et al. · Nature 31 Jul 1997 3,391
3 Synthesis of Highly Ordered Carbon Molecular Sieves via Template-Mediated Structural Transformation Ryong Ryoo, Sang Hoon Joo, Shinae Jun · The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 27 Aug 1999 2,449
4 Chemistry of Aerogels and Their Applications Alain C. Pierre, Gérard Marcel Pajonk · Chemical Reviews Review 18 Oct 2002 2,224
5 A New Property of MCM-41: Drug Delivery System María Vallet‐Regí, Ainhoa Ramila, Rafael Perez del Real et al. · Chemistry of Materials 29 Dec 2000 2,179
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Aerogels and thermal insulation research done?

The largest centres of Aerogels and thermal insulation research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Nanjing (China) and Xi'an (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Changzhou.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 305 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 170 works
  3. 3 NanjingChina 145 works
  4. 4 Xi'anChina 132 works
  5. 5 WuhanChina 112 works
  6. 6 TianjinChina 96 works
  7. 7 HarbinChina 84 works
  8. 8 ChengduChina 79 works
  9. 9 GuangzhouChina 75 works
  10. 10 JinanChina 72 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ChangzhouCN · 25.5 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Aerogels and thermal insulation than the world average.

See Aerogels and thermal insulation on the map

Where is the best place to study Aerogels and thermal insulation?

Among universities, judged by research, Donghua University, University of Science and Technology of China and Guangxi 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%10%20%30%mean 22.79%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Donghua UniversityGuangxi UniversityUniversity of Scienc…Nanjing Forestry Uni…
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
1Donghua UniversityChina 89.926.9%35.3×54 +99.3%
2University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 73.124.5%5.0×25 +70.1%
3Guangxi UniversityChina 72.426.9%7.9×20 +320.8%
4Nanjing Forestry UniversityChina 71.920.1%16.3×31 +37.4%
5Wuhan Textile UniversityChina 67.824.0%27.2×17 +290.9%
6National University of SingaporeSingapore 67.227.0%2.3×11 +46.8%
7Jiangnan UniversityChina 66.919.1%9.8×24 +234.9%
8Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 65.817.6%5.8×40 +165.3%
9University of British ColumbiaCanada 64.826.8%2.4×12 +300.9%
10South China University of TechnologyChina 63.915.0%8.3×38 +71.2%

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 Aerogels and thermal insulation, country by country

Is Aerogels and thermal insulation research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 53% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Aerogels and thermal insulation.

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 Aerogels and thermal insulation as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.020% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Aerogels and thermal insulation0.022% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Aerogels and thermal insulation 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%Aerogels and thermal insulation9.7% 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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