Smart asphalt mixtures: a bibliometric analysis of the research trends

A smart asphalt mixture holds new capabilities different from the original ones or can react to a stimulus. These capabilities can be categorized based on smartness or function: smartness, mechanical, electrical, optical, energy harvesting, electromagnetic wave/radiation shielding/absorbing, and water related. The most important capabilities applied to asphalt mixtures are the photocatalytic, self-cleaning, self-healing, superhydrophobic, thermochromic, deicing/anti-icing, and latent heat thermal energy storage abilities. This research deals with a bibliometric review of the peer-reviewed journal articles published on the Scopus database, with the strings of terms related to these capabilities and asphalt or bitum in their titles, abstracts, and keywords. The review analysis highlighted the increasing number of accumulated publications, confirming the relevance of this research topic in recent years. The capability most often referred to was self-healing. The study showed that China was the most productive country. Research articles were mostly published in the journal Construction and Building Materials. Several techniques and methods are being developed regarding smart asphalt mixtures; for that reason, this research work aims to evaluate the literature under a bibliometric analysis. This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), NanoAir PTDC/FIS-MAC/6606/2020, MicroCoolPav EXPL/EQU-EQU/1110/2021, UIDB/04650/2020, and UIDB/04029/2020. This research was also supported by the doctoral grant 2023.02795.BD, funded by FCT, as well as and bydoctoral grant PRT/BD/154269/2022 financed by the FCT and with funds from POR Norte-Portugal 2020 and State Budget, under MIT Portugal Program. The first author would like to acknowledge the FCT for funding (2022.00763.CEECIND).