These research directions have become the key research frontiers and emerging research frontiers in chemistry & materials in 2018

　　On the morning of October 24, the 2018 Research Frontiers Report (Chinese and English versions) and the 2018 Research Frontiers Heat Index Report were released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Science and Technology Strategy Consulting, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Library and Information Center, and Clarivate Analytics. The report selected and showcased 100 hot frontiers and 38 emerging frontiers in 10 highly aggregated major subject areas.

 

　　First, let's look at the top 10 chemical & materials science hotspots

 

 

　　The report specifically summarizes the core papers, top-producing countries and institutions of cited papers for two key frontier areas.

　　Key Frontier Area——"Meta-selective C-H bond activation"

 

 

 

　　Key Frontier Area——"Deep eutectic solvents and their applications"

　　The core papers in this research frontier mainly come from EU countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. This is related to the EU's funding of a large number of deep eutectic solvent industrialization research projects through the "Framework Programme". Institutions involved in multiple industrialization research projects, such as the University of Leicester in the UK and Leiden University in the Netherlands, participated in the research in this field.

 

 

　　8 Emerging Frontier Directions in Chemical & Materials Science

　　The research report interpreted that 3 of the 4 core papers in the direction of stretchable materials and devices came from Professor Zhenan Bao of Stanford University. Many of her team's works are leading and pioneering. For example, in 2016, the team abandoned the previous strategy of mixing nanofibers or nanowires and other flexible semiconductor materials in elastomers. They innovatively introduced chemical groups into conjugated polymers, achieving the goal of maintaining high electron mobility even when strain is generated. This paper has the highest citation frequency in this emerging frontier, at 124 times. In 2017, the team also proposed a nano-confined method for polymers for the first time, preparing flexible semiconductor materials with both excellent conductivity and stretchability. The cited frequency of the related article reached 95 times. Recently, the team successfully developed a high-density, high-sensitivity, stretchable transistor array that can be mass-produced for the first time. Hefei University of Technology in China recently used the ordered assembly of metal nanowires to successfully develop an elastic conductive material with self-healing properties, high conductivity, and excellent tensile strength and electromechanical stability.

 

　　Other Key and Emerging Directions in Materials Science from Other Disciplines

　　Using transition metals and nanotechnology to catalyze the activation of persulfate to degrade pollutants in water

 

 

 

　　Research on Weyl semimetal properties

 

 

 

　　Application of microbial fuel cell technology to wastewater treatment

 

 

　　Report Address:

　　http://m.cas.cn/gfzjz/201810/W020181025588461030379.pdf

　　http://m.cas.cn/gfzjz/201810/W020181025588461562569.pdf