AUTHOR=Yang Minmin , Wu Jihuai , Graham Geoffrey M. , Lin Jianming , Huang Miaoliang 

TITLE=Hotspots, Frontiers, and Emerging Trends of Superabsorbent Polymer Research: A Comprehensive Review

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.688127

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.688127

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=Superabsorbent polymer (SAP) is a kind of functional macromolecule with super-high water absorption and retention properties, which attracts extensive research and has wide application, especially in the areas of hygiene and agriculture. In the light of Web of Science database, SAP research literature from 2000 to 2019 is reviewed both quantitatively and qualitatively. By examining research hotspots, top research clusters, the most influential works, representative front literature, and key emerging research trends, a visual panorama of the continuously and significantly increasing SAP research over the past two decades was presented, and issues behind the sharp increase in literature were discovered. The findings are as follows. The top ten keywords/hotspots headed by hydrogel highlight the academic attention on SAP properties and composites. The top ten research themes headed by clay-based composites which boasts longest duration and strongest impact have revealed the academic preference for application rather than theoretical study. Academically influential scholars and research have been acknowledged and Wu group was at the forefront of research; however, more statistically significant works are less detected in the recent 10 years despite its sharper increase of publications. Hydrogel, internal curing, and aerogel are both current advances and future directions.