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Topic · Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes

Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes is a research topic within Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes. Science Explorer counts 10k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the electrochemical reduction and production processes in molten salts, including topics such as metal production, energy storage using liquid metal batteries, carbon capture, pyroprocessing technology, rare earth extraction, and the development of thermal battery technology. The research covers a wide range of applications and techniques for utilizing molten salt electrolysis in various industrial processes.

  • Molten Salt Electrolysis
  • Electrochemical Reduction
  • Metal Production
  • Energy Storage
  • Carbon Capture
  • Liquid Metal Batteries
  • Pyroprocessing Technology
  • Rare Earth Extraction
  • Thermal Battery Technology
  • Solid Oxide Membrane Process
Research works
10k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+55%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
44% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes

Which countries lead Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (862 and 375 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 862 works
  2. 2 United States 375 works
  3. 3 Russia 198 works
  4. 4 Germany 105 works
  5. 5 Japan 97 works
  6. 6 South Korea 92 works
  7. 7 India 64 works
  8. 8 France 54 works
  9. 9 United Kingdom 51 works
  10. 10 Canada 51 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: 44.2%United States: 19.3%Russia: 10.2%Germany: 5.4%6 others listed: 20.9%44%largest
China862 · 44.2%United States375 · 19.3%Russia198 · 10.2%Germany105 · 5.4%6 others listed408 · 20.9%

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

Which institutions lead Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Northeastern University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 111 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 73 works
  3. 3 Northeastern UniversityChina 44 works
  4. 4 Central South UniversityChina 40 works
  5. 5 Kunming University of Science and TechnologyChina 32 works
  6. 6 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 28 works
  7. 7 Idaho National LaboratoryUnited States 28 works
  8. 8 Ural Federal UniversityRussia 25 works
  9. 9 University of Science and Technology BeijingChina 23 works
  10. 10 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 23 works

Who are the leading researchers in Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes include Wei Huang, Kai You Wang and John Bannister Goodenough.

  1. 1 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  2. 2 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  3. 3 John Bannister Goodenough United States 175k citations
  4. 4 Michele Parrinello Switzerland 153k citations
  5. 5 Huan Liu Australia 148k citations
  6. 6 Allen J. Bard United States 136k 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 Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes?

The most cited paper in Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes is "Optimization of parameters for semiempirical methods II. Applications" (James J. P. Stewart, 1989), with 3,757 citations. Next come "Direct electrochemical reduction of titanium dioxide to titanium in molten calcium chloride" (1,544) and "A generalized thermodynamic correlation based on three‐parameter corresponding states" (1,524).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Optimization of parameters for semiempirical methods II. Applications James J. P. Stewart · Journal of Computational Chemistry Mar 1989 3,757
2 Direct electrochemical reduction of titanium dioxide to titanium in molten calcium chloride George Zheng Chen, Derek John Fray, Tom W. Farthing · Nature Sep 2000 1,544
3 A generalized thermodynamic correlation based on three‐parameter corresponding states Byung Ik Lee, Michael G. Kesler · AIChE Journal May 1975 1,524
4 Recent advances in solid oxide cell technology for electrolysis Anne Hauch, Rainer Küngas, Peter Blennow et al. · Science Open access 9 Oct 2020 1,376
5 Thermodynamic and Mass Transport Properties of “ LiAl ” Ching-ju Wen, Bernard A. Boukamp, Robert A. Huggins et al. · Journal of The Electrochemical Society Open access Dec 1979 894
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes research done?

The largest centres of Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Yekaterinburg (Russia), Shenyang (China) and Changsha (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Idaho Falls and Yekaterinburg.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 172 works
  2. 2 YekaterinburgRussia 93 works
  3. 3 ShenyangChina 56 works
  4. 4 ChangshaChina 54 works
  5. 5 ShanghaiChina 52 works
  6. 6 WuhanChina 46 works
  7. 7 MoscowRussia 44 works
  8. 8 KunmingChina 43 works
  9. 9 DaejeonSouth Korea 36 works
  10. 10 Xi'anChina 31 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Idaho FallsUS · 27.8 works103×
  2. YekaterinburgRU · 93.0 works45×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes than the world average.

See Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes on the map

Where is the best place to study Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes?

Among universities, judged by research, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Central South University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology score highest, combining citation 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 16.21%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Huazhong University …Massachusetts Instit…Wuhan UniversityCentral South Univer…
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.

Citation 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
1Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina 61.830.6%3.4×12 +510.5%
2Central South UniversityChina 60.68.8%10.5×40 +100.4%
3Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 60.116.3%8.4×12 +67.4%
4Wuhan UniversityChina 57.614.3%5.3×15 +47.1%
5Kunming University of Science and TechnologyChina 57.410.5%28.7×32 +128.5%
6Northeastern UniversityChina 56.89.3%24.7×44 +4.5%
7University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 55.320.5%5.0×16 +76.0%
8University of Science and Technology BeijingChina 54.511.6%15.0×23 +17.6%
9East China University of Science and TechnologyChina 52.618.6%12.8×13 +76.5%
10Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 52.121.6%2.5×14 +786.0%

Universities only. The score blends citation 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 Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes, country by country

Is Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 55% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes.

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 Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0072% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes0.011% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes 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%Molten salt chemistry and electrochemical processes10.2% 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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