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Topic · Surfaces, Coatings and Films

Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity

Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity is a research topic within Surfaces, Coatings and Films. Science Explorer counts 42k 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 advances in superhydrophobic surface technology, including bioinspired design, wetting and spreading behavior, self-cleaning coatings, and applications in oil/water separation. The research explores nanotextured surfaces, bioinspired materials, the role of surface roughness, and strategies for creating liquid-repellent surfaces.

  • Superhydrophobic Surfaces
  • Bioinspired Design
  • Wetting and Spreading
  • Self-Cleaning Coatings
  • Oil/Water Separation
  • Nanotextured Surfaces
  • Bioinspired Materials
  • Hydrophobicity
  • Surface Roughness
  • Liquid Repellent
Research works
42k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+22%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
65% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity

Which countries lead Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (5.9k and 828 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 5.9k works
  2. 2 United States 828 works
  3. 3 India 549 works
  4. 4 South Korea 355 works
  5. 5 Japan 344 works
  6. 6 Germany 313 works
  7. 7 United Kingdom 220 works
  8. 8 France 220 works
  9. 9 Canada 202 works
  10. 10 Iran 196 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: 64.7%United States: 9.1%India: 6.0%South Korea: 3.9%6 others listed: 16.4%65%largest
China5,916 · 64.7%United States828 · 9.1%India549 · 6.0%South Korea355 · 3.9%6 others listed1,495 · 16.4%

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

Which institutions lead Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Donghua University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 339 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 107 works
  3. 3 Donghua UniversityChina 93 works
  4. 4 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 90 works
  5. 5 Sichuan UniversityChina 88 works
  6. 6 Tsinghua UniversityChina 88 works
  7. 7 South China University of TechnologyChina 84 works
  8. 8 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 83 works
  9. 9 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 78 works
  10. 10 Dalian University of TechnologyChina 76 works

Who are the leading researchers in Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity include Zhong Lin Wang, Yury G. Gogotsi and Róbert Langer.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Yury G. Gogotsi United States 313k citations
  3. 3 Róbert Langer United States 303k citations
  4. 4 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  5. 5 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  6. 6 Yi Ping Cui United States 261k citations
  7. 7 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations
  8. 8 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  9. 9 Ralph B. D’Agostino United States 255k citations
  10. 10 Kenji Watanabe Japan 237k 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 Modification and Superhydrophobicity?

The most cited paper in Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity is "A continuum method for modeling surface tension" (Jeremiah U. Brackbill, D.B. Kothe, Ch. Zemach, 1992), with 10,368 citations. Next come "Estimation of the surface free energy of polymers" (9,470) and "Purity of the sacred lotus, or escape from contamination in biological surfaces" (6,882).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A continuum method for modeling surface tension Jeremiah U. Brackbill, D.B. Kothe, Ch. Zemach · Journal of Computational Physics Jun 1992 10,368
2 Estimation of the surface free energy of polymers D.K. Owens, R. C. Wendt · Journal of Applied Polymer Science Aug 1969 9,470
3 Purity of the sacred lotus, or escape from contamination in biological surfaces Wilhelm Barthlott, Christoph Neinhuis · Planta 30 Apr 1997 6,882
4 Super‐Hydrophobic Surfaces: From Natural to Artificial Libang Feng, Shuhui Li, Yuanxin Li et al. · Advanced Materials 17 Dec 2002 4,413
5 Electrospinning: A Fascinating Method for the Preparation of Ultrathin Fibers Andreas Greiner, Joachim Heinz Wendorff · Angewandte Chemie International Edition 22 Jun 2007 4,239
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity research done?

The largest centres of Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Nanjing (China) and Xi'an (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Mianyang and Changzhou.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 913 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 349 works
  3. 3 NanjingChina 280 works
  4. 4 Xi'anChina 279 works
  5. 5 WuhanChina 244 works
  6. 6 ChengduChina 230 works
  7. 7 TianjinChina 215 works
  8. 8 GuangzhouChina 205 works
  9. 9 QingdaoChina 197 works
  10. 10 HangzhouChina 196 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. MianyangCN · 62.5 works10×
  2. ChangzhouCN · 52.8 works10.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity than the world average.

See Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity on the map

Where is the best place to study Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity?

Among universities, judged by research, Donghua University, Nanchang Hangkong University and Nanjing Forestry 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%25%50%mean 22.1%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Nanchang Hangkong Un…Nanjing Forestry Uni…Donghua UniversityJilin 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
1Donghua UniversityChina 68.520.0%26.2×93 +34.8%
2Nanchang Hangkong UniversityChina 65.257.9%10.1×12 +51.9%
3Nanjing Forestry UniversityChina 63.021.4%11.2×49 +50.3%
4Jilin UniversityChina 61.314.6%6.7×74 +49.0%
5City University of Hong KongChina 61.217.7%5.4×30 +43.3%
6Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 60.415.3%5.0×78 +26.7%
7Sichuan UniversityChina 60.015.5%4.0×88 +28.1%
8University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 59.417.3%3.9×61 +15.4%
9South China University of TechnologyChina 58.814.8%8.0×84 +8.7%
10Northeast Forestry UniversityChina 58.726.5%11.2×32 +200.5%

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 Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity, country by country

Is Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 22% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity.

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 Modification and Superhydrophobicity as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.045% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity0.045% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity 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 Modification and Superhydrophobicity9.7% 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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