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Topic · Materials Chemistry

Block Copolymer Self-Assembly

Block Copolymer Self-Assembly is a research topic within Materials Chemistry. Science Explorer counts 11k research works in it since 1961. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the self-assembly of block copolymers for nanotechnology applications, including lithography, nanoparticle assembly, and the development of supramolecular materials. It explores topics such as mesoscale potentials, coarse-graining methods, and the fabrication of nanostructures using block copolymers.

  • Block Copolymers
  • Self-Assembly
  • Nanotechnology
  • Lithography
  • Mesoscale Potentials
  • Nanoparticle Assembly
  • Coarse-Graining
  • Nanostructures
  • Supramolecular Materials
  • Thin Films
Research works
11k
fractional, since 1961
In the world top 10%
1.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-12%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
30% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Block Copolymer Self-Assembly

Which countries lead Block Copolymer Self-Assembly research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (390 and 359 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 390 works
  2. 2 United States 359 works
  3. 3 Germany 116 works
  4. 4 Japan 101 works
  5. 5 South Korea 67 works
  6. 6 France 66 works
  7. 7 India 59 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 53 works
  9. 9 Taiwan 38 works
  10. 10 Italy 34 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: 30.4%United States: 28.0%Germany: 9.0%Japan: 7.9%6 others listed: 24.7%30%largest
China390 · 30.4%United States359 · 28.0%Germany116 · 9.0%Japan101 · 7.9%6 others listed317 · 24.7%

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

Which institutions lead Block Copolymer Self-Assembly research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Block Copolymer Self-Assembly research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fudan University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 37 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 30 works
  3. 3 Fudan UniversityChina 26 works
  4. 4 University of MinnesotaUnited States 19 works
  5. 5 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 16 works
  6. 6 East China University of Science and TechnologyChina 12 works
  7. 7 University of California, Santa BarbaraUnited States 11 works
  8. 8 Zhejiang UniversityChina 11 works
  9. 9 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 10 works
  10. 10 University of ChicagoUnited States 10 works

Who are the leading researchers in Block Copolymer Self-Assembly?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Block Copolymer Self-Assembly include Róbert Langer, George M. Whitesides and Wei Huang.

  1. 1 Róbert Langer United States 303k citations
  2. 2 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  3. 3 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  4. 4 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations
  5. 5 Takashi Taniguchi Japan 227k citations
  6. 6 Lei Jiang China 214k citations
  7. 7 Younan Xia United States 207k citations
  8. 8 John Anthony Pople United States 202k citations
  9. 9 Harry Eugene Stanley United States 198k 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 Block Copolymer Self-Assembly?

The most cited paper in Block Copolymer Self-Assembly is "Ordered Metal Nanohole Arrays Made by a Two-Step Replication of Honeycomb Structures of Anodic Alumina" (Hideki Masuda, Kenji Fukuda, 1995), with 5,196 citations. Next come "Dissipative particle dynamics: Bridging the gap between atomistic and mesoscopic simulation" (4,550) and "Block Copolymer Thermodynamics: Theory and Experiment" (3,877).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Ordered Metal Nanohole Arrays Made by a Two-Step Replication of Honeycomb Structures of Anodic Alumina Hideki Masuda, Kenji Fukuda · Science 9 Jun 1995 5,196
2 Dissipative particle dynamics: Bridging the gap between atomistic and mesoscopic simulation Robert D. Groot, Patrick B. Warren · The Journal of Chemical Physics 15 Sep 1997 4,550
3 Block Copolymer Thermodynamics: Theory and Experiment Frank S. Bates, Glenn H. Fredrickson · Annual Review of Physical Chemistry Oct 1990 3,877
4 Self-assembly of block copolymers Yiyong Mai, Adi Eisenberg · Chemical Society Reviews Review 2012 3,602
5 Block Copolymers—Designer Soft Materials Frank S. Bates, Glenn H. Fredrickson · Physics Today Feb 1999 3,200
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Block Copolymer Self-Assembly research done?

The largest centres of Block Copolymer Self-Assembly research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Seoul (South Korea) and Tokyo (Japan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Minneapolis.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 73 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 62 works
  3. 3 SeoulSouth Korea 30 works
  4. 4 TokyoJapan 28 works
  5. 5 HangzhouChina 28 works
  6. 6 GuangzhouChina 27 works
  7. 7 MinneapolisUnited States 21 works
  8. 8 ParisFrance 18 works
  9. 9 ChicagoUnited States 16 works
  10. 10 HsinchuTaiwan 15 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. MinneapolisUS · 20.7 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Block Copolymer Self-Assembly than the world average.

See Block Copolymer Self-Assembly on the map

Where is the best place to study Block Copolymer Self-Assembly?

Among universities, judged by research, University of California, Santa Barbara, Fudan University and University of Minnesota 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 15.78%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of Califo…Fudan UniversityMassachusetts Instit…University of Minnes…
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
1University of California, Santa BarbaraUnited States 66.930.0%25.7×11 -6.2%
2Fudan UniversityChina 58.917.5%12.0×26 -15.0%
3University of MinnesotaUnited States 57.611.7%18.5×19 -8.7%
4Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 46.816.3%10.9×10 -40.4%
5South China University of TechnologyChina 42.221.1%6.2×9 +35.1%
6University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States 34.012.7%7.1×8 +23.9%
7University of ChicagoUnited States 32.313.8%9.0×10 -14.6%
8National Tsing Hua UniversityTaiwan 31.94.8%31.6×10 +89.3%
9Jilin UniversityChina 28.218.3%5.3×8 +50.6%
10East China University of Science and TechnologyChina 27.011.6%17.9×12 -6.7%

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 Block Copolymer Self-Assembly, country by country

Is Block Copolymer Self-Assembly research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 12% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2013.

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 Block Copolymer Self-Assembly as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0044% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%Block Copolymer Self-Assembly0.0064% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Block Copolymer Self-Assembly 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%Block Copolymer Self-Assembly9.7% 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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