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Topic · Polymers and Plastics

Synthesis and properties of polymers

Synthesis and properties of polymers is a research topic within Polymers and Plastics. Science Explorer counts 45k 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 explores advancements in polyimide materials, including the use of elemental sulfur as a feedstock, synthesis of high refractive index and low dielectric constant polymers, applications in space technology, development of optically transparent films, and utilization in lithium-sulfur batteries.

  • Polyimides
  • Elemental Sulfur
  • High Refractive Index
  • Low Dielectric Constant
  • Inverse Vulcanization
  • Fluorinated Polymers
  • Space Applications
  • Thermal Stability
  • Optically Transparent Films
  • Lithium-Sulfur Batteries
Research works
45k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+20%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
57% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Synthesis and properties of polymers

Which countries lead Synthesis and properties of polymers research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (2.3k and 342 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 2.3k works
  2. 2 United States 342 works
  3. 3 Japan 277 works
  4. 4 India 276 works
  5. 5 Russia 251 works
  6. 6 South Korea 195 works
  7. 7 Germany 124 works
  8. 8 France 106 works
  9. 9 Türkiye 87 works
  10. 10 Taiwan 75 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: 56.8%United States: 8.5%Japan: 6.9%India: 6.9%6 others listed: 20.9%57%largest
China2,273 · 56.8%United States342 · 8.5%Japan277 · 6.9%India276 · 6.9%6 others listed837 · 20.9%

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

Which institutions lead Synthesis and properties of polymers research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Synthesis and properties of polymers research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and Sichuan University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 174 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 113 works
  3. 3 Sichuan UniversityChina 77 works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 62 works
  5. 5 East China University of Science and TechnologyChina 53 works
  6. 6 Beijing University of Chemical TechnologyChina 48 works
  7. 7 Donghua UniversityChina 45 works
  8. 8 South China University of TechnologyChina 40 works
  9. 9 Qingdao University of Science and TechnologyChina 33 works
  10. 10 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 31 works

Who are the leading researchers in Synthesis and properties of polymers?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Synthesis and properties of polymers include Zhong Lin Wang, Róbert Langer and George M. Whitesides.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Róbert Langer United States 303k 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 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  7. 7 George M. Sheldrick Germany 220k citations
  8. 8 Lei Jiang China 214k citations
  9. 9 Younan Xia United States 207k citations
  10. 10 John Anthony Pople United States 202k 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 Synthesis and properties of polymers?

The most cited paper in Synthesis and properties of polymers is "A New Class of Polymers: Starburst-Dendritic Macromolecules" (Donald A. Tomalia, H.M. Baker, James L. Dewald et al., 1985), with 3,896 citations. Next come "New Insights into Perfluorinated Sulfonic-Acid Ionomers" (2,414) and "Advanced polyimide materials: Syntheses, physical properties and applications" (2,197).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A New Class of Polymers: Starburst-Dendritic Macromolecules Donald A. Tomalia, H.M. Baker, James L. Dewald et al. · Polymer Journal 1985 3,896
2 New Insights into Perfluorinated Sulfonic-Acid Ionomers Ahmet Kusoglu, Adam Z. Weber · Chemical Reviews ReviewOpen access 23 Jan 2017 2,414
3 Advanced polyimide materials: Syntheses, physical properties and applications Der‐Jang Liaw, Kung-Li Wang, Ying‐Chi Huang et al. · Progress in Polymer Science Mar 2012 2,197
4 Synthesis and application of epoxy resins: A review Fan‐Long Jin, Xiang Li, Soo‐Jin Park · Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 6 Apr 2015 2,151
5 Hyperbranched polymers: from synthesis to applications Changyou Gao, Deyue Yan · Progress in Polymer Science 5 Feb 2004 2,050
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Synthesis and properties of polymers research done?

The largest centres of Synthesis and properties of polymers research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Chengdu (China) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Villeurbanne and Changzhou.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 386 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 200 works
  3. 3 ChengduChina 151 works
  4. 4 MoscowRussia 104 works
  5. 5 Xi'anChina 99 works
  6. 6 GuangzhouChina 95 works
  7. 7 WuhanChina 91 works
  8. 8 TokyoJapan 85 works
  9. 9 HangzhouChina 75 works
  10. 10 HarbinChina 75 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. VilleurbanneFR · 27.0 works11×
  2. ChangzhouCN · 20.6 works8.9×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Synthesis and properties of polymers than the world average.

See Synthesis and properties of polymers on the map

Where is the best place to study Synthesis and properties of polymers?

Among universities, judged by research, Sichuan University, University of Science and Technology of China and Northwestern Polytechnical University 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 23.06%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Northwestern Polytec…University of Scienc…Beijing University o…Sichuan 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.

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
1Sichuan UniversityChina 75.819.7%8.1×77 +24.7%
2University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 72.527.5%5.9×30 +65.4%
3Northwestern Polytechnical UniversityChina 70.437.9%6.1×30 +59.2%
4Beijing University of Chemical TechnologyChina 68.120.8%26.6×48 +21.6%
5South China University of TechnologyChina 62.920.2%8.7×40 +25.1%
6Wuhan Textile UniversityChina 62.934.2%13.1×8 +173.8%
7University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 61.118.4%4.5×31 +22.4%
8Donghua UniversityChina 59.712.7%29.1×45 +23.0%
9East China University of Science and TechnologyChina 58.510.4%25.3×53 +59.8%
10Jiangsu UniversityChina 58.528.8%5.3×18 +56.1%

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 Synthesis and properties of polymers, country by country

Is Synthesis and properties of polymers research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 20% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2011. The fastest-growing topics are Synthesis and properties of polymers.

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 Synthesis and properties of polymers as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.023% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%Synthesis and properties of polymers0.022% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Synthesis and properties of polymers 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%Synthesis and properties of polymers9.9% 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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