oa Hotspot Research on Ozone in Environmental Catalysis: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract: In order to systematically sort out the current research status, application areas, and development direction of ozone in environmental catalysis, a bibliometric analysis of the relevant literature published in the Web of Science database from 2005 to 2025 was carried out. VOSviewer and CiteSpace software were utilized to view data from 1379 journal articles. Data visualization and analysis identified 5330 authors, 249 journals, and 1276 institutions. The results show that the number of publications in the field of ozone-related environmental catalysis is on an increasing trend, especially after 2017. China, Spain, the United States, Iran, and India are the main driving forces, with China being the most active country. The Chemical Engineering Journal and the Journal of Hazardous Materials are the journals that publish the most relevant research. Harbin Institute of Technology, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore and Beijing Forestry University are the three institutions that publish the most literature. Currently, a more complete theoretical framework and research methodology on ozone environmental catalysis have been developed worldwide. However, the research network is too centralized, with fewer frontier peripheral branches. The research focus has gradually shifted from the early direct oxidation of ozone to the design of catalytic materials, radical modulation and multi-technology coupling (photocatalysis, plasma), and in recent years, more attention has been paid to the synergistic degradation of complex pollutants (antibiotics, VOCs) and the optimisation of the green and sustainable processes. It is necessary to overcome the bottlenecks of catalyst stability, energy consumption and by-product control, and promote the scale-up of ozone catalysis technology in water treatment and air purification. The present study is of great importance for a better understanding and further supporting the research of ozone environmental catalytic processes.