Uncovering the dynamics in global carbon dioxide utilization research: a bibliometric analysis (1995-2019)

Revolutionizing indoor air quality monitoring through IoT innovations: a comprehensive systematic review and bibliometric analysis

Indoor air quality (IAQ) in the built environment is significantly influenced by particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and air temperature. Recently, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been integrated to improve IAQ and safeguard human health, comfort, and productivity. This review seeks to highlight the potential of IoT integration for monitoring IAQ. Additionally, the paper details progress by researchers in developing IoT/mobile applications for IAQ monitoring, and their transformative impact in smart building, healthcare, predictive maintenance, and real-time data analysis systems. It also outlines the persistent challenges (e.g., data privacy, security, and user acceptability), hampering effective IoT implementation for IAQ monitoring. Lastly, the global developments and research landscape on IoT for IAQ monitoring were examined through bibliometric analysis (BA) of 106 publications indexed in Web of Science from 2015 to 2022. BA revealed the most significant contributing countries are India and Portugal, while the top productive institutions and researchers are Instituto Politecnico da Guarda (10.37% of TP) and Marques Goncalo (15.09% of TP), respectively. Keyword analysis revealed four major research themes: IoT, pollution, monitoring, and health. Overall, this paper provides significant insights for identifying prospective collaborators, benchmark publications, strategic funding, and institutions for future IoT-IAQ researchers.

Transforming pollution into solutions: A bibliometric analysis and sustainable strategies for reducing indoor microplastics while converting to value-added products

Microplastics (MPs), as emerging indoor contaminants, have garnered attention due to their ubiquity and unresolved implications for human health. These tiny particles have permeated indoor air and water, leading to inevitable human exposure. Preliminary evidence suggests MP exposure could be linked to respiratory, gastrointestinal, and potentially other health issues, yet the full scope of their effects remains unclear. To map the overall landscape of this research field, a bibliometric analysis based on research articles retrieved from the Web of Science database was conducted. The study synthesizes the current state of knowledge and spotlights the innovative mitigation strategies proposed to curb indoor MP pollution. These strategies involve minimizing the MP emission from source, advancements in filtration technology, aimed at reducing the MP exposure. Furthermore, this research sheds light on cutting-edge methods for converting MP waste into value-added products. These innovative approaches not only promise to alleviate environmental burdens but also contribute to a more sustainable and circular economy by transforming waste into resources such as biofuels, construction materials, and batteries. Despite these strides, this study acknowledges the ongoing challenges, including the need for more efficient removal technologies and a deeper understanding of MPs' health impacts. Looking forward, the study underscores the necessity for further research to fill these knowledge gaps, particularly in the areas of long-term health outcomes and the development of standardized, reliable methodologies for MP detection and quantification in indoor settings. This comprehensive approach paves the way for future exploration and the development of robust solutions to the complex issue of microplastic pollution.

Bibliometric analysis of safety management system research (2001-2021)

INTRODUCTION

Occupational health and safety (OHS) has become an integral part of human society, particularly considering the growing rates of injuries and deaths worldwide. Hence, numerous employers, governments, and stakeholders worldwide have established critical OHS measures to safeguard human health and occupational safety. Numerous studies have been conducted to identify and highlight risks and hazards, as well as to detect, monitor, minimize, and prevent workplace injuries and deaths.

METHOD

This study presents the publication trends, research landscape, and scientific developments related to safety management systems (SMS) based on published documents from the Elsevier Scopus database. Published documents on SMS and indexed in Scopus are identified, screened, and analyzed to examine the publication trends, research developments, and scientific landscape. For this purpose, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), bibliometric analysis (B.A.), and systematic literature review (SLR) procedures are used. The results reveal that 799 related documents were published between 2001 and 2021.

RESULTS

The most productive stakeholders, that is, top researchers, affiliations, and countries, include Liesbeth Jacxsens, Universiteit Gent (Belgium), and the United States. This study shows that the availability of research grants, incentives, or awards is critical to the productivity of top researchers, institutions, and nations actively researching SMS topics. The bibliometric analysis reveals that the topic is characterized by high productivity, co-authorships, keyword occurrence, and citations.

CONCLUSION

The analysis shows that SMS research is a broad, multidimensional, and impactful area that has become essential for identifying, reducing, monitoring, and eliminating risks in many industries. It is concluded that the topic of the SMS remains relevant because of its impact on human health, occupational safety, and environmental well-being.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This study provides in-depth insight into expanding the scope of SMS research. Moreover, research and policymakers can facilitate decision-making and collaboration based on this study's outtakes.

A bibliometric evaluation and visualization of global solar power generation research: productivity, contributors and hot topics

The demand for sustainable energy is increasingly urgent to mitigate global warming which has been exacerbated by the extensive use of fossil fuels. Solar energy has attracted global attention as a crucial renewable resource. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis based on publication metrics from the Web of Science database to gain insights into global solar power research. The results indicate a stable global increase in publications on solar power generation and a rise in citations, reflecting growing academic interest. Leading contributors include China, the USA, South Korea, Japan, and India, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences emerging as the most prolific institution. Multidisciplinary Materials Science, Applied Physics, Energy and Fuels, Physical Chemistry, and Nanoscience and Nanotechnology were the most used and promising subject categories. Current hot topics include the systematic analysis of photovoltaic systems, perovskite as a solar cell material, and focusing on stability and flexibility issues arising during photovoltaic-grid integration. This study facilitates a comprehensive understanding of the status and trends in solar power research for researchers, stakeholders, and policy-makers.

Automatic and Matrix Interference-Free Acid-Base Titration by Coupling CO2 Vapor Generation with Microplasma Carbon Optical Emission Spectrometry

Acid-base titration of complex samples is conducive to the rapid evaluation of the degree and risk of environmental pollution to some extent. However, the traditional titration methods usually suffer from serious interference. Herein, an automatic acid-base titration method coupling miniature point discharge optical emission spectrometry (μPD-OES) with CO2 vapor generation was described for the precise, sensitive, and matrix interference-free acid-base titration of complex samples, particularly those with high color intensity, salinity, and turbidity such as wastewater and soil samples. In this work, acid-base titration was carried out in a chemical vapor generator where CO2 was generated through the addition of HCl or NaHCO3, thus enabling efficient separation of CO2 from a complex matrix. The generated CO2 was subsequently swept into the miniaturized point discharge for excitation and further detection by μPD-OES, where the carbon atomic emission at 193.0 nm was monitored. According to the consumed volume and concentration of HCl, accurate and automatic measurements of OH-, CO32-, and HCO3- can be accomplished. The proposed method possesses a high sensitivity of μPD-OES for the detection of CO2 with a relative standard deviation of below 3.0%. Moreover, the proposed system not only retains several unique advantages of accuracy, simplicity, and elimination of the use of complicated, expensive, and high power-consumption instruments but also alleviates the color and turbid interference from complex samples such as dyeing wastewater samples, oilfield water samples, and soil samples. It retains a promising potential application for titration analysis of other samples such as sludge, sediment, and landfill leachate.

Bibliometric analysis and literature review of occupant thermal comfort in naturally ventilated buildings (1995-2021)

This paper presents the global research landscape and scientific progress on occupant thermal comfort in naturally ventilated buildings (OTC-NVB). Despite the growing interest in the area, comprehensive papers on the current status and future developments on the topic are currently lacking. Hence, the publication trends, bibliometric analysis, and systematic literature review of the published documents on OTC-NVB were examined. The search query "Thermal Comfort" AND "Natural Ventilation" AND "Buildings" was designed and executed to recover related documents on the topic from the Elsevier Scopus database. Results showed that 976 documents (comprising articles, conference papers, reviews, etc.) were published on the topic from 1995 to 2021. Further analysis showed that 97.34% of the publications were published in the English language. Richard J.de Dear (University of Sydney, Australia) is the most prolific researcher on OTC-NVB research, while Energy and Buildings has the highest publications. Bibliometric analysis showed high publications, citations, keywords, and co-authorships among researchers, whereas the most occurrent keywords are ventilation, natural ventilation, thermal comfort, buildings, and air conditioning. Systematic literature review demonstrated that OTC-NVB research has progressed significantly from empirical to computer-based studies involving complex mathematical equations, programs, or software like artificial neural networks (ANN) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In general, OTC-NVB research findings indicate that physiological, social, and environmental factors considerably influence OTC in NVBs. Future studies will likely employ artificial intelligence or building performance simulation (BPS) tools to examine relationships between OTC and indoor air/environmental quality, human behavior, novel clothing, or building materials in NVBs.

Waste management practices in developing countries: a socio-economic perspective

Growing populations, expanding economies, industrialisation, and urbanisation pose a problem for waste management in developing countries. Their waste management methods, on the other hand, are not as efficient as they could be. Most developing countries' current waste management practices do not fully conform to developed countries' best practices for meeting socioeconomic goals. As a result, the importance of waste management in developing countries has grown in recent years. In order to highlight the socioeconomic perspectives of waste management practices, the present study examines the existing literature, policies, information, and records on waste management in developing nations. The findings indicate that essential socioeconomic factors such as finances, population density, per capita income, education level, policies, and technology have a significant impact on waste management, which encompasses waste generation, collection, composition, and disposal/treatment. Nonetheless, waste management has a number of economic benefits, including financial stability, job creation, and community cohesion. This study will inspire further research on the need for developing nations to consider the socioeconomic benefits of proper waste management and to develop a policy plan to achieve these benefits.

Recovery and utilisation of waste heat from flue/exhaust gases: a bibliometric analysis (2010-2022)

The recovery and utilisation of waste heat from flue/exhaust gases (RU/WHFG) could potentially provide sustainable energy while curbing pollutant emissions. Over time, the RU/WHFG research landscape has gained significant traction and yielded innovative technologies, sustainable strategies, and publications. However, critical studies highlighting current advancements, publication trends, research hotspots, major stakeholders, and future research directions on RU/WHFG research remain lacking. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis and literature review of the RU/WHFG research landscape based on publications indexed in Scopus. Results showed that 123 publications and 2191 citations were recovered between 2010 and 2022. Publication trends revealed that the growing interest in RU/WHFG is mainly due to environmental concerns (e.g. pollution, global warming, and climate change), research collaborations, and funding availability. Stakeholder analysis revealed that numerous researchers, affiliations, and countries have actively contributed to the growth and development of RU/WHFG. Lin Fu and Tsinghua University (China) are the most prolific researchers and affiliations, whereas the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and China are the most prolific funder and country, respectively. Funding availability from influential schemes such as NSFC has accounted for China's dominance. Keyword co-occurrence identified three major research hotspots, namely, thermal energy utilisation and management (cluster 1), integrated energy and resource recovery (cluster 2), and system analysis and optimisation (cluster 3). Literature review revealed that researchers are currently focused on maximising thermodynamic/energy efficiency, fuel minimisation, and emission reduction. Despite progress, research gaps remain in low-temperature/low-grade waste heat recovery, utilisation, storage, life cycle, and environmental impact analysis.

Mapping the field of microalgae CO2 sequestration: a bibliometric analysis

Microalgae CO₂ sequestration has gained considerable attention in the last three decades as a promising technology to slow global warming caused by CO₂ emissions. To provide a comprehensive and objective analysis of the research status, hot spots, and frontiers of CO₂ fixation by microalgae, a bibliometric approach was recently chosen for review. In this study, 1561 articles (1991-2022) from the Web of Science (WOS) on microalgae CO₂ sequestration were screened. A knowledge map of the domain was presented using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. It visually demonstrates the most productive journals (Bioresource Technology), countries (China and USA), funding sources, and top contributors (Cheng J, Chang JS, and their team) in the field of CO₂ sequestration by microalgae. The analysis also revealed that research hotspots changed over time and that recent research has focused heavily on improving carbon sequestration efficiency. Finally, commercialization of carbon fixation by microalgae is a key hurdle, and supports from other disciplines could improve carbon sequestration efficiency.

Research characteristics and trends of power sector carbon emissions: a bibliometric analysis from various perspectives

Power sector carbon emissions (PSCEs) have received an increasing attention due to their huge contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. Herein, the research characteristics and trends of PSCEs are investigated based on bibliometric analysis. The basic growth trends, contributions of the most productive countries/territories, institutions, authors, journals, and subject categories are analyzed systematically. In addition, the major research fields and research trends are investigated by the keywords co-occurrence analysis and topic evolution. The result indicates that PSCEs research has developed rapidly in the past 20 years, and the proportion of research funding has increased from 0 at the beginning to 73% in the last 5 years. Especially, the number of scientific publications has shown an explosive growth after the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016. The People's Republic of China (PR China), the USA, and England are the three most dynamic countries in the field of PSCEs research, with 64.8% of the total number of published papers. The most productive institutions are also from these countries. Based on keywords co-occurrence analysis, it is concluded that driving factors, prediction, impacts, and countermeasures of carbon emission are three major research fields. The result of thematic evolution indicates that the topics on energy transition, life cycle assessment, marginal abatement cost and energy policy have been the research hotspots in recent years. This study presents an worldwide overview of PSCEs research, thus helping the stakeholders to quickly grasp the research trends and conduct future work.

Property development during the COVID-19 pandemic: challenges and outlook in Malaysia

Through administrative research and media records, this paper aims to examine and highlight the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Malaysian workers, property development, construction sites, and the national economy. The development of real estate and the construction industry can significantly impact socio-economic growth and infrastructure development. Adequate building and infrastructure construction can ensure national economic stability, job creation, community cohesion, and higher living standards. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2019, many countries, including Malaysia, have reported an increased number of virus cases. According to the Ministry of Health, 9316 cases and 314 COVID-19 clusters were discovered in Malaysia, with a 38.55-48.06% prevalence for factories, a 12.55-15.29% prevalence for community spreading, an 8.6-11.56% prevalence for construction sites, a 5.53-7.96% prevalence for educational sites, and a 7.01% prevalence for shopping areas. Several governments-imposed lockdowns, movement, and proximity restrictions during the pandemic due to the high infection rates at property development sites. However, due to inactivity in various sectors such as the construction industry, these measures have significantly impacted the national economy. As a result, the pandemic has had an impact on workers, production costs, and project completion timelines, resulting in operational issues and policy concerns. Overall, the records reviewed revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted real estate development, the housing market, and the construction industry. As a result, sustained and targeted policies are required to support Malaysia's construction industry's socio-economic growth and infrastructure development.

Bibliometric review of carbon neutrality with CiteSpace: evolution, trends, and framework

The concept of carbon neutrality has been promoted and implemented in increasing countries since the twenty-first century. In-depth research on carbon neutrality has helped improve the environmental conditions and played a particular role in sustaining economic and social development. However, there is a less comprehensive review of the status in this field; therefore, this article uses the information visualization software CiteSpace to thoroughly analyze carbon neutrality research from multiple perspectives. This study aims to reveal the current research evolutions and hotspots in this field, predict future research trends, and construct the framework for better understanding. The results find that the number of papers published on carbon neutrality keeps increasing annually, and carbon neutrality has been the widely participated domain. In addition, publications by organizations and in top journals have aroused wide attention, and the hot spots on carbon neutrality have shifted to policy, recovery, and efficiency. Based on the results, a knowledge framework of this domain is constructed to give readers a clearer understanding of the evolvement and trends, which will also provide targeted references and help for future researchers.

Bibliometric Survey on Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithms (2001–2021)

Particle swarm optimization algorithms (PSOA) is a metaheuristic algorithm used to optimize computational problems using candidate solutions or particles based on selected quality measures. Despite the extensive research published, studies that critically examine its recent scientific developments and research impact are lacking. Therefore, the publication trends and research landscape on PSOA research were examined. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and bibliometric analysis techniques were applied to identify and analyze the published documents indexed in Scopus from 2001 to 2021. The published documents on PSOA increased from 8 to 1,717 (21,362.50%) due to the growing applications of PSOA in solving computational problems. “Conference papers” is the most common document type, whereas the most prolific researcher on PSOA is Andries P. Engelbrecht (South Africa). The most active affiliation (Ministry of Education) and funding organization (National Natural Science Foundation) are based in China. The research landscape on PSOA revealed high levels of publications, citations, and collaborations among the top authors, institutions, and countries worldwide. Keywords co-occurrence analysis revealed that “particle swarm optimization (PSO)” occurred more frequently than others. The findings of the study could provide researchers and policymakers with insights into the prospects and challenges of PSOA research relative to similar algorithms in the literature.

Waste heat recovery research - a systematic bibliometric analysis (1991 to 2020)

Human usage of non-renewable energy resources has caused many environmental issues, which include air pollution, global warming, and climate irregularities. To counter these issues, researchers have been seeking after alternative renewable energy sources and ways to manage energy more efficiently. This is where energy recovery technologies such as waste heat recovery (WHR) come into play. WHR is a form of waste to energy conversion. Waste heat can be captured and converted into usable energy instead of dumping it into the environment. In the more recent years, the WHR research field has gained great attention in the scientific community as well as in some energy-intensive industries. This article presents a bibliometric overview of the academic research on WHR over the span of 30 years from 1991 to 2020. A total of 5682 documents from Web of Science (WoS) have been retrieved and analyzed using various bibliometric methods, including performance analysis and network analysis. The analyses were performed on different actors in the field, i.e., funding agencies, journals, authors, organizations, and countries. In addition, several network mappings were done based on co-citation, co-authorship, and co-occurrences of keywords analyses. The research identified the most productive and influential actors in the field, established and emergent research topics, as well as the interrelations and collaboration patterns between different actors. The findings can be a robust roadmap for further research in this field.

Research Hotspots and Evolution Trends of Carbon Neutrality—Visual Analysis of Bibliometrics Based on CiteSpace

Climate change is one of the most urgent challenges facing the world. All countries should take joint actions to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, which include controlling global warming to within a 1.5 °C temperature rise, to mitigate the extreme harm caused by climate change. However, ways in which to achieve economically and environmentally sustainable carbon neutrality are yet to be established. Carbon neutrality appears frequently in international policy and the scientific literature, but there is little detailed literature. It is necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis of the development context of its research. This paper analyzed the literature on carbon neutrality using bibliometric methods. A total of 1383 research papers were collected from the “Web of Science core database” from 1995 to 2021. Descriptive statistical analysis and keyword co-occurrence and literature co-citation network analyses were utilized to sort the research hotspots, and the detected bursts, the top 30 keywords in terms of word frequency, and 12 clusters were selected. It was found that the existing carbon neutrality research literature mainly focuses on carbon neutrality energy transformation, carbon neutrality technology development, carbon neutrality effect evaluation, and carbon neutrality industry examples. The analysis process involved comprehensively reading the key articles and considering the co-citation, burstiness, centrality, and other indicators under clustering; the carbon neutrality research was then divided into three stages, and evolving themes were observed. Based on the burst detection, this paper holds that with the energy structure transformation, energy consumption assessment and carbon neutrality schemes of various industries, carbon dioxide capture technology, and biogas resource utilization, urban carbon neutrality policy will become a research hotspot in the future. This paper helps to provide a reference for scholars’ theoretical research and has important reference value for policymakers to formulate relevant policy measures. It is helpful for enterprises to make strategic decisions and determine the direction of technology, for R&D and investment, and it is of considerable significance to promote the research of carbon neutrality technology.

Uncovering Research Trends of Phycobiliproteins Using Bibliometric Approach

Phycobiliproteins are gaining popularity as long-term, high-value natural products which can be alternatives to synthetic products. This study analyzed research trends of phycobiliproteins from 1909 to 2020 using a bibliometric approach based on the Scopus database. The current findings showed that phycobiliprotein is a burgeoning field in terms of publications outputs with "biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology" as the most related and focused subject. The Journal of Applied Phycology was the most productive journal in publishing articles on phycobiliproteins. Although the United States of America (U.S.A.) contributed the most publications on phycobiliproteins, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) is the institution with the largest number of publications. The most productive author on phycobiliproteins was Glazer, Alexander N. (U.S.A.). The U.S.A. and Germany were at the forefront of international collaboration in this field. According to the keyword analysis, the most explored theme was the optimization of microalgae culture parameters and phycobiliproteins extraction methods. The bioactivity properties and extraction of phycobiliproteins were identified as future research priorities. Synechococcus and Arthrospira were the most cited genera. This study serves as an initial step in fortifying the phycobiliproteins market, which is expected to exponentially expand in the future. Moreover, further research and global collaboration are necessary to commercialize phycobiliproteins and increase the consumer acceptability of the pigments and their products.

Global trends in research on carbon footprint of buildings during 1971-2021: a bibliometric investigation

The increasing issue of global warming has received tremendous attention from researchers around the world as researchers are actively publishing their findings related to environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprint, and air quality. In this bibliometric review, Scopus database was accessed to retrieve publications from 1971 to 2021, related to carbon footprint of buildings which is significantly associated with global warming and air quality. The results suggested that 41% of publications were published in close access journals requiring nominal subscription fee and/or institutional permissions for access to articles. Only 1% of publications were in press for publication, while 99% of them were online available. The trend of publications on carbon footprint has increased after 2002 and is also increasing in recent years as the topic is widely studied in many fields such as environmental sciences, engineering, materials sciences, earth and planetary sciences, chemical engineering, and energy. Approximately 97% publications were peer-reviewed journal articles. The authors, i.e., Aresta, M., Lin, T.P., and Persily, A.K., published highest number of publications among all on topic of carbon footprint. However, other authors, i.e., Cai, W., Chen, Z., Ma, M. Paik, I., and Pomponi, F., have published two publications each on carbon footprint of buildings. The funding for research on carbon footprint of buildings is mainly received from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Tianjin University. However, the National Taiwan University, George Mason University, and Universita degi Studi di Bari hold 3% share in total number of publications on carbon footprint of buildings. As China and the USA are countries with highest share in global carbon footprint, both countries also have highest contribution in research on carbon footprint, followed by South Korea, the UK, Japan, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, etc. The study also concluded that, due to its wider readability and understanding, most of the publications were in the English language.