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Topic · Organic Chemistry

Antimicrobial agents and applications

Antimicrobial agents and applications is a research topic within Organic Chemistry. Science Explorer counts 14k 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, design, and applications of antimicrobial polymers, particularly those containing quaternary ammonium compounds. It explores the mechanisms of action, resistance development, and surface modification for creating biocidal materials. The cluster also delves into the potential of antimicrobial polymers as alternatives to traditional antibiotics.

  • Antimicrobial Polymers
  • Quaternary Ammonium Compounds
  • Biocidal Surfaces
  • Polymeric Materials
  • Antibacterial Agents
  • Resistance Mechanisms
  • Membrane Disruption
  • Host-Defense Peptides
  • Surface Modification
  • Biocide Resistance
Research works
14k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+31%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
43% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Antimicrobial agents and applications

Which countries lead Antimicrobial agents and applications research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (1.2k and 397 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.2k works
  2. 2 India 397 works
  3. 3 United States 392 works
  4. 4 Russia 142 works
  5. 5 Brazil 133 works
  6. 6 South Korea 128 works
  7. 7 Iran 124 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 119 works
  9. 9 Egypt 112 works
  10. 10 Germany 111 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: 42.7%India: 13.7%United States: 13.5%Russia: 4.9%6 others listed: 25.2%43%largest
China1,234 · 42.7%India397 · 13.7%United States392 · 13.5%Russia142 · 4.9%6 others listed727 · 25.2%

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

Which institutions lead Antimicrobial agents and applications research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Antimicrobial agents and applications research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 62 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 51 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 34 works
  4. 4 Sichuan UniversityChina 28 works
  5. 5 Zhejiang UniversityChina 23 works
  6. 6 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 21 works
  7. 7 Johnson County Community CollegeUnited States 19 works
  8. 8 National Research CentreEgypt 16 works
  9. 9 Qingdao UniversityChina 16 works
  10. 10 East China University of Science and TechnologyChina 16 works

Who are the leading researchers in Antimicrobial agents and applications?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Antimicrobial agents and applications include Róbert Langer, Wei Huang and Ben Zhong Tang.

  1. 1 Róbert Langer United States 303k citations
  2. 2 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  3. 3 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations
  4. 4 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran 258k citations
  5. 5 Didier Raoult France 232k citations
  6. 6 Kai You Wang China 224k 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 Antimicrobial agents and applications?

The most cited paper in Antimicrobial agents and applications is "Antiseptics and Disinfectants: Activity, Action, and Resistance" (Gerald E. McDonnell, A.D. Russell, 1999), with 4,811 citations. Next come "The antimicrobial activity of nanoparticles: present situation and prospects for the future" (4,056) and "Mechanisms of biofilm resistance to antimicrobial agents" (3,934).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Antiseptics and Disinfectants: Activity, Action, and Resistance Gerald E. McDonnell, A.D. Russell · Clinical Microbiology Reviews Open access 1999 4,811
2 The antimicrobial activity of nanoparticles: present situation and prospects for the future Linlin Wang, Hu Chen, Longquan Shao · International Journal of Nanomedicine Open access Feb 2017 4,056
3 Mechanisms of biofilm resistance to antimicrobial agents Thien-Fah C Mah, George A. O’Toole · Trends in Microbiology Review 2001 3,934
4 Antimicrobial properties of chitosan and mode of action: A state of the art review Ming Chai Kong, Xi Guang Chen, Ke Xing et al. · International Journal of Food Microbiology 24 Sep 2010 3,026
5 Biological degradation of plastics: A comprehensive review Aamer Ali Shah, Fariha Hasan, Abdul Hameed et al. · Biotechnology Advances 28 Jan 2008 2,753
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Antimicrobial agents and applications research done?

The largest centres of Antimicrobial agents and applications research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Guangzhou (China) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Giza.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 159 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 96 works
  3. 3 GuangzhouChina 76 works
  4. 4 MoscowRussia 67 works
  5. 5 HangzhouChina 62 works
  6. 6 SeoulSouth Korea 46 works
  7. 7 QingdaoChina 45 works
  8. 8 ChengduChina 44 works
  9. 9 TehranIran 41 works
  10. 10 NanjingChina 41 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. GizaEG · 32.7 works5.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Antimicrobial agents and applications than the world average.

See Antimicrobial agents and applications on the map

Where is the best place to study Antimicrobial agents and applications?

Among universities, judged by research, Zhejiang University, Sichuan University and Qingdao 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 19.08%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Zhejiang UniversityQingdao UniversitySichuan UniversityUniversidade do Porto
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
1Zhejiang UniversityChina 77.024.2%2.1×23 +57.2%
2Sichuan UniversityChina 74.419.4%3.1×28 +18.3%
3Qingdao UniversityChina 66.021.7%5.8×16 +112.6%
4Universidade do PortoPortugal 61.017.8%5.2×14 +23.7%
5Tongji UniversityChina 60.221.6%2.2×14 +68.2%
6Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 59.119.5%1.3×15 +51.9%
7Beijing University of Chemical TechnologyChina 57.212.2%8.4×15 +47.3%
8Soochow UniversityChina 55.020.3%3.2×12 +65.4%
9Jilin UniversityChina 52.614.7%3.0×14 +99.7%
10Wenzhou Medical UniversityChina 52.619.4%5.4×11 +132.5%

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 Antimicrobial agents and applications, country by country

Is Antimicrobial agents and applications research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 31% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Antimicrobial agents and applications.

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 Antimicrobial agents and applications as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.016% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%Antimicrobial agents and applications0.019% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Antimicrobial agents and applications 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%Antimicrobial agents and applications10.1% 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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