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Topic · Catalysis

Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction

Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction is a research topic within Catalysis. Science Explorer counts 29k 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 advances in electrocatalysts and catalytic processes for ammonia synthesis, particularly under ambient conditions and using renewable energy sources. It explores topics such as nitrogen reduction, artificial nitrogen fixation, electrochemical synthesis, and the potential of using ammonia for hydrogen storage.

  • Ammonia Synthesis
  • Electrocatalysts
  • Nitrogen Reduction
  • Ambient Conditions
  • Catalysis
  • Renewable Energy
  • Artificial Nitrogen Fixation
  • Electrochemical Synthesis
  • Hydrogen Storage
  • Nanocatalysts
Research works
29k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.9k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+103%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
68% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction

Which countries lead Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (6.3k and 786 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 6.3k works
  2. 2 United States 786 works
  3. 3 India 542 works
  4. 4 South Korea 393 works
  5. 5 Japan 322 works
  6. 6 Germany 294 works
  7. 7 Australia 213 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 197 works
  9. 9 France 155 works
  10. 10 Spain 130 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: 67.6%United States: 8.4%India: 5.8%South Korea: 4.2%6 others listed: 14.0%68%largest
China6,318 · 67.6%United States786 · 8.4%India542 · 5.8%South Korea393 · 4.2%6 others listed1,311 · 14.0%

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

Which institutions lead Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction research, followed by Tianjin University and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 456 works
  2. 2 Tianjin UniversityChina 106 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 89 works
  4. 4 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 83 works
  5. 5 Tsinghua UniversityChina 83 works
  6. 6 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 79 works
  7. 7 Jilin UniversityChina 78 works
  8. 8 Fuzhou UniversityChina 74 works
  9. 9 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 74 works
  10. 10 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 68 works

Who are the leading researchers in Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction include Zhong Lin Wang, Michaël Grätzel and Georg Kresse.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Michaël Grätzel Switzerland 458k citations
  3. 3 Georg Kresse Austria 431k citations
  4. 4 Kostya S. Novoselov United Kingdom 331k citations
  5. 5 Yury G. Gogotsi United States 313k citations
  6. 6 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  7. 7 Yi Ping Cui United States 261k citations
  8. 8 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations
  9. 9 Jens K. Nørskov Denmark 260k citations
  10. 10 Donald G. Truhlar United States 230k 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 Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction?

The most cited paper in Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction is "Noble metal-free hydrogen evolution catalysts for water splitting" (Xiaoxin Zou, Yu Zhang, 2015), with 5,945 citations. Next come "Metal-free efficient photocatalyst for stable visible water splitting via a two-electron pathway" (4,485) and "Metal hydride materials for solid hydrogen storage: A review☆" (3,700).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Noble metal-free hydrogen evolution catalysts for water splitting Xiaoxin Zou, Yu Zhang · Chemical Society Reviews Review 2015 5,945
2 Metal-free efficient photocatalyst for stable visible water splitting via a two-electron pathway Juan Liu, Yang Liu, Naiyun Liu et al. · Science 27 Feb 2015 4,485
3 Metal hydride materials for solid hydrogen storage: A review☆ Billur Sakintuna, Farida Lamari-Darkrim, Michael Hirscher · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 17 Jan 2007 3,700
4 Hydrogen energy, economy and storage: Review and recommendation John Olorunfemi Abe, A.P.I. Popoola, Emmanuel Ajenifuja et al. · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 3 May 2019 3,335
5 Recent Advances in Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Using Nanoparticles Jing Zhu, Liangsheng Hu, Pengxiang Zhao et al. · Chemical Reviews ReviewOpen access 28 Oct 2019 3,148
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction research done?

The largest centres of Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Nanjing (China) and Tianjin (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Ma'anshan City and Baotou.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 955 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 356 works
  3. 3 NanjingChina 286 works
  4. 4 TianjinChina 280 works
  5. 5 Xi'anChina 243 works
  6. 6 HangzhouChina 218 works
  7. 7 WuhanChina 195 works
  8. 8 ChengduChina 189 works
  9. 9 HefeiChina 179 works
  10. 10 QingdaoChina 173 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Ma'anshan CityCN · 25.6 works13×
  2. BaotouCN · 23.8 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction than the world average.

See Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction on the map

Where is the best place to study Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction?

Among universities, judged by research, City University of Hong Kong, Lanzhou Jiaotong University and Tianjin 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 19.7%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Lanzhou Jiaotong Uni…City University of H…Tsinghua UniversityTianjin 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
1City University of Hong KongChina 74.320.0%7.5×41 +565.7%
2Lanzhou Jiaotong UniversityChina 73.126.0%14.7×33 +227.1%
3Tianjin UniversityChina 71.914.5%9.1×106 +107.7%
4Tsinghua UniversityChina 69.016.9%3.8×83 +108.0%
5Shenzhen UniversityChina 68.422.5%4.8×34 +252.7%
6University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 68.017.0%6.5×74 +158.9%
7The University of AdelaideAustralia 67.525.2%3.5×14 +50.7%
8Technical University of DenmarkDenmark 66.415.6%8.3×40 +130.0%
9University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 65.819.9%4.0×42 +133.8%
10Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 65.319.4%3.0×25 +166.9%

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 Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction, country by country

Is Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 103% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction.

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 Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.042% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction0.052% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction 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%Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction9.7% 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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