Abstract
Electrocatalytic methods are valuable tools for addressing water pollution and scarcity, offering effective pollutant removal and resource recovery. To investigate the current status and future trends of electrocatalysis in wastewater treatment, a detailed analysis of 9417 papers and 4061 patents was conducted using scientometric methods. China emerged as the leading contributor to publications, and collaborations between China and the USA have emerged as the most frequent partnerships. Primary article co-citation clusters focused on oxygen evolution reaction and electrochemical oxidation, transitioning towards advanced oxidation processes (“persulfate activation”), and electrocatalytic reduction processes (“nitrate reduction”). Bifunctional catalysts, theoretical calculations, electrocatalytic combination technologies, and emerging contaminants were identified as current research hotspots. Patent analysis revealed seven types of electrochemical technologies, which were compared using SWOT analysis, highlighting electrochemical oxidation as prominent. The technological evolution presented the pathway of electro-Fenton to combined electrocatalytic technologies with biochemical processes, and finally to coupling with electrocoagulation. Standardized evaluation systems, waste resource utilization, and energy conservation were important directions of innovation in electrocatalytic technologies. Overall, this study provided a reference for researchers to understand the framework of electrocatalysis in wastewater treatment and also shed light on potential avenues for further innovation in the field.
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This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFC3207603), National Natural Science Foundation of China (52388101), Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology (BK20220012), and Excellent Research Program of Nanjing University (ZYJH005).
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Qianqian Li: data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, visualization, writing — original draft. Xiaoya Fang: investigation, methodology, visualization, writing — original draft. Lili Jin: visualization, writing — original draft. Xiangzhou Sun: visualization. Hui Huang: conceptualization, funding acquisition, supervision, writing — review and editing. Rui Ma: visualization. Han Zhao: visualization. Hongqiang Ren: conceptualization, resources.
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Li, Q., Fang, X., Jin, L. et al. Scientometric analysis of electrocatalysis in wastewater treatment: today and tomorrow. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 19025–19046 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32472-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32472-1