Global research landscape on coagulation-flocculation for wastewater treatment: A 2000–2023 bibliometric analysis

This review presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of global research trends in coagulation-flocculation for wastewater treatment from 2000 to 2023. Leveraging the Web of Science database and VOSviewer software for co-occurrence analysis, 8763 relevant articles were retrieved. Environmental science emerged as the dominant category, encompassing 2997 documents. The analysis revealed “Desalination and Water Treatment” as the most prolific journal, while “Water Research” garnered the highest citations. Notably, Gao, Baoyu from Shandong University, China, emerged as the most productive author, publishing 181 articles and receiving the highest citation count. China, Malaysia, the USA, and Canada displayed significant engagement in collaborative efforts, with China leading with 37 % of the total research articles. The Chinese Academy of Sciences demonstrated a robust collaborative network, particularly with Shandong University and extended collaborations globally. Keyword analysis through VOSviewer highlighted coagulation as the most frequent, followed by flocculation and wastewater treatment. Emerging trends include magnetic coagulation/flocculation, addressing emerging contaminants, integration of artificial intelligence in process optimization, and integrating CF with biological separation methods. These trends represent current research hotspots in the field. This analysis highlighting key contributors, collaborative networks, and emerging research directions, thus guiding future research efforts and policy formulation in environmental management. [Display omitted] •Bibliometrics analysis was conducted for coagulation-flocculation in wastewater treatment.•China, Malaysia, the USA and Canada displayed significant engagement in collaborative efforts.•Coagulation is the most frequent used keyword followed by flocculation.•Magnetic coagulation/flocculation are among current research hotspot in the field.