Gelation dynamics steering frontiers in technology: Unraveling hotspots and research trends through scientometric insights

The serendipitous occurrence of gels in science has been a milestone for further industrial revolutionization. The controlled formation and disassembly of gels coupled with their viscoelastic properties and their ability to undergo extensive structural modification to suit different applications have led to the widespread use of gelation technology in different domains of science such as sensing, material chemistry and physics, medicine, food and nutrition, ecology, and more. With the rising interest in gelators and gels applications, accurately depicting the current status of gelation and associated technology is of paramount importance for researchers and scholars already immersed in gel technology as well as those aiming to delve into this field. Utilizing bibliometrics offers a systematic approach to analyze trends, citation patterns, and the impact of research, providing crucial insights for advancing knowledge and innovation in gel technology. By performing a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of scientific publications, using Vosviewer, Citespace, and Biblioshiny, in terms of co-authorship and co-citations of publications, and also the co-occurrence analysis of countries, institutions, authors, and keywords Research frontiers and hotspots in gelation and associated technologies in 21st century can be assessed. The result indicated a research frontier in the discipline of ecology, earth, and marine for gelator application and current hotspots within the research field of gelation technology in; catalysis, eutectogels development as an alternative for ionic liquid gels, gelators in drug delivery for antibacterial activity, oleogels in the food industry, low molecular weight hydrogels for tissue repair and 4D printing and gelators application for oil spill remediation and dye removal. This work, although not assessing fully the qualitative aspect of a research field, gives a broad quantitative analysis and direction of research within a research field. The result of this work will provide a comprehensive overview of the evolution of research in the field of gelation technology and a global understanding of research frontiers, hotspots, and drawbacks within the field to researchers and scholars willing to work in this research area.