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Topic · Molecular Medicine

Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications

Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications is a research topic within Molecular Medicine. Science Explorer counts 28k 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 properties, design, and biomedical applications of hydrogels, including their use in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and regenerative medicine. It explores stimuli-responsive polymers, scaffold design variables, and the development of polymeric gels for cell culture and tissue regeneration.

  • Hydrogels
  • Biomedical Applications
  • Tissue Engineering
  • Stimuli-Responsive Polymers
  • Drug Delivery
  • Scaffold Design
  • Biomaterials
  • Regenerative Medicine
  • Polymeric Gels
  • Cell Culture
Research works
28k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+31%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
50% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications

Which countries lead Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (3k and 844 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 3k works
  2. 2 India 844 works
  3. 3 United States 626 works
  4. 4 Iran 313 works
  5. 5 Japan 296 works
  6. 6 South Korea 224 works
  7. 7 Germany 218 works
  8. 8 Türkiye 203 works
  9. 9 France 191 works
  10. 10 Russia 156 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: 49.7%India: 13.8%United States: 10.2%Iran: 5.1%6 others listed: 21.1%50%largest
China3,039 · 49.7%India844 · 13.8%United States626 · 10.2%Iran313 · 5.1%6 others listed1,288 · 21.1%

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

Which institutions lead Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Sichuan University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 108 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 100 works
  3. 3 Sichuan UniversityChina 85 works
  4. 4 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 68 works
  5. 5 Zhejiang UniversityChina 50 works
  6. 6 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 46 works
  7. 7 South China University of TechnologyChina 45 works
  8. 8 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 37 works
  9. 9 Islamic Azad University, TehranIran 33 works
  10. 10 Jiangnan UniversityChina 31 works

Who are the leading researchers in Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, 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 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  5. 5 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran 258k citations
  6. 6 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  7. 7 Lei Jiang China 214k citations
  8. 8 Younan Xia United States 207k citations
  9. 9 John Anthony Pople United States 202k 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 Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications?

The most cited paper in Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications is "Chitin and chitosan: Properties and applications" (Marguerite Rinaudo, 2006), with 8,231 citations. Next come "Alginate: Properties and biomedical applications" (8,099) and "Hydrogel: Preparation, characterization, and applications: A review" (5,774).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Chitin and chitosan: Properties and applications Marguerite Rinaudo · Progress in Polymer Science Jul 2006 8,231
2 Alginate: Properties and biomedical applications Kuen Yong Lee, David J. Mooney · Progress in Polymer Science Open access 7 Jul 2011 8,099
3 Hydrogel: Preparation, characterization, and applications: A review Enas M. Ahmed · Journal of Advanced Research Open access 18 Jul 2013 5,774
4 Highly stretchable and tough hydrogels Jeong‐Yun Sun, Xuanhe Zhao, Widusha R. K. Illeperuma et al. · Nature Open access Sep 2012 5,503
5 Mechanisms of solute release from porous hydrophilic polymers Richard W. Korsmeyer, Robert Gurny, Éric Doelker et al. · International Journal of Pharmaceutics May 1983 5,233
All 98 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications research done?

The largest centres of Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Chengdu (China) and Guangzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Shimla and Tabriz.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 350 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 206 works
  3. 3 ChengduChina 154 works
  4. 4 GuangzhouChina 153 works
  5. 5 TehranIran 143 works
  6. 6 Xi'anChina 138 works
  7. 7 NanjingChina 132 works
  8. 8 HangzhouChina 129 works
  9. 9 WuhanChina 104 works
  10. 10 TianjinChina 98 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ShimlaIN · 20.5 works20×
  2. TabrizIR · 40.4 works7.3×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications than the world average.

See Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications on the map

Where is the best place to study Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications?

Among universities, judged by research, Sichuan University, Yeungnam University and National University of Singapore 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 20.31%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Yeungnam UniversityNational University …University of TabrizSichuan 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
1Sichuan UniversityChina 65.714.9%5.2×86 +13.7%
2Yeungnam UniversitySouth Korea 65.327.6%7.6×12 +153.6%
3National University of SingaporeSingapore 64.325.1%2.4×21 +124.8%
4University of TabrizIran 62.920.2%10.1×17 +42.1%
5Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 61.919.5%2.2×46 +83.2%
6Nanjing Forestry UniversityChina 60.316.4%9.4×31 +59.5%
7Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 58.317.0%2.9×37 +91.4%
8Northeast Agricultural UniversityChina 58.322.0%9.6×18 +780.0%
9Zhejiang UniversityChina 57.415.8%2.6×50 +14.3%
10Gachon UniversitySouth Korea 55.824.6%5.3×9 +500.0%

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 Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications, country by country

Is Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 31% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2026. The fastest-growing topics are Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, 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 Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.028% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications0.038% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, 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%Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications9.8% 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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