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Topic · Biomedical Engineering

Surface Chemistry and Catalysis

Surface Chemistry and Catalysis is a research topic within Biomedical Engineering. Science Explorer counts 13k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the engineering and manipulation of surface nanostructures, including self-assembly, supramolecular interactions, chirality, catalysis, and the formation of two-dimensional molecular networks. Techniques such as scanning tunneling microscopy are employed to study and control these processes at the atomic and molecular levels.

  • Surface
  • Nanostructures
  • Self-Assembly
  • Supramolecular
  • Chirality
  • Catalysis
  • Molecular Networks
  • Two-Dimensional
  • Covalent Assembly
  • Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
Research works
13k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-3%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
38% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Surface Chemistry and Catalysis

Which countries lead Surface Chemistry and Catalysis research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (487 and 184 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 487 works
  2. 2 United States 184 works
  3. 3 Germany 145 works
  4. 4 Japan 117 works
  5. 5 France 80 works
  6. 6 Spain 68 works
  7. 7 India 62 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 53 works
  9. 9 Italy 52 works
  10. 10 Russia 33 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: 38.0%United States: 14.4%Germany: 11.3%Japan: 9.1%6 others listed: 27.2%38%largest
China487 · 38.0%United States184 · 14.4%Germany145 · 11.3%Japan117 · 9.1%6 others listed348 · 27.2%

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

Which institutions lead Surface Chemistry and Catalysis research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Surface Chemistry and Catalysis research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 53 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 45 works
  3. 3 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 16 works
  4. 4 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 16 works
  5. 5 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 15 works
  6. 6 Max Planck SocietyGermany 14 works
  7. 7 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasSpain 13 works
  8. 8 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 12 works
  9. 9 Czech Academy of SciencesCzechia 11 works
  10. 10 Tongji UniversityChina 10 works

Who are the leading researchers in Surface Chemistry and Catalysis?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Surface Chemistry and Catalysis include Zhong Lin Wang, Michaël Grätzel and George M. Whitesides.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Michaël Grätzel Switzerland 458k citations
  3. 3 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  4. 4 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  5. 5 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations
  6. 6 Jens K. Nørskov Denmark 260k citations
  7. 7 Omar M. Yaghi United States 254k citations
  8. 8 Kenji Watanabe Japan 237k citations
  9. 9 Donald G. Truhlar United States 230k citations
  10. 10 Takashi Taniguchi Japan 227k 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 Surface Chemistry and Catalysis?

The most cited paper in Surface Chemistry and Catalysis is "A simple measure of electron localization in atomic and molecular systems" (Axel D. Becke, Kenneth E. Edgecombe, 1990), with 7,183 citations. Next come "The atomic simulation environment—a Python library for working with atoms" (4,765) and "ShelXle : a Qt graphical user interface for SHELXL" (3,828).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A simple measure of electron localization in atomic and molecular systems Axel D. Becke, Kenneth E. Edgecombe · The Journal of Chemical Physics May 1990 7,183
2 The atomic simulation environment—a Python library for working with atoms Ask Hjorth Larsen et al. · Journal of Physics Condensed Matter Open access 21 Mar 2017 4,765
3 ShelXle : a Qt graphical user interface for SHELXL Christian Bertram Hübschle, George M. Sheldrick, Birger Dittrich · Journal of Applied Crystallography Open access 11 Nov 2011 3,828
4 Molecular Self-Assembly and Nanochemistry: a Chemical Strategy for the Synthesis of Nanostructures George M. Whitesides, John P. Mathias, Christopher T. Seto · Science 29 Nov 1991 3,641
5 Self-Assembly of Discrete Cyclic Nanostructures Mediated by Transition Metals Stefan Leininger, Bogdan Z. Olenyuk, Peter J. Stang · Chemical Reviews Review 4 Feb 2000 3,483
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Surface Chemistry and Catalysis research done?

The largest centres of Surface Chemistry and Catalysis research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Tokyo (Japan) and Paris (France).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 97 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 70 works
  3. 3 TokyoJapan 30 works
  4. 4 ParisFrance 28 works
  5. 5 MadridSpain 25 works
  6. 6 ShenzhenChina 20 works
  7. 7 TianjinChina 20 works
  8. 8 HangzhouChina 19 works
  9. 9 HefeiChina 18 works
  10. 10 PragueCzechia 17 works
See Surface Chemistry and Catalysis on the map

Where is the best place to study Surface Chemistry and Catalysis?

Among universities, judged by research, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Nankai 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%mean 11.81%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Shanghai Jiao Tong U…Nankai UniversityUniversity of Scienc…University of Chines…
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
1Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 83.822.6%4.1×16 +41.2%
2University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 66.715.1%7.0×16 +2.4%
3Nankai UniversityChina 61.018.4%9.8×9 +79.1%
4University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 45.118.1%5.8×9 -3.4%
5East China University of Science and TechnologyChina 44.812.0%13.8×9 +99.2%
6Tongji UniversityChina 43.813.9%4.9×10 +7.7%
7Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-NürnbergGermany 30.04.4%11.1×9 -23.4%
8Soochow UniversityChina 23.94.7%7.3×10 -1.1%
9The University of TokyoJapan 15.24.0%5.2×9 -20.7%
10South China University of TechnologyChina 9.64.9%5.6×8 -7.1%

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 Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, country by country

Is Surface Chemistry and Catalysis research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 3% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2008.

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 Surface Chemistry and Catalysis as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0055% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Surface Chemistry and Catalysis0.0067% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Surface Chemistry and Catalysis 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%Surface Chemistry and Catalysis9.9% 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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