Evaluation of global research trends in photocatalytic degradation of dye effluents using scientometrics analysis

Photocatalysis technology is observed to be an effective approach for its outstanding performance to eliminate wide range of organic pollutants including dyes in textile effluent. Despite growing number of studies, there is no scientometric perspective addressing the research topic “photocatalytic degradation of dye effluents”. In this regard, a total of 954 documents were extracted from the Web of Science (WoS) database using keywords search to cover all the published documents during the period 1996–2020. Publications in this area started to increase exponentially from year 2007. The most dominant subject categories were Engineering, Chemistry and Environmental Science & Ecology. Applied Catalysis B-Environmental and Desalination & Water Treatment were identified as the most-impactful and productive journals respectively. Authors based in India accounted for 29.6% of total publications followed by China (14.2%); but in terms of citations Spain and Italy were more influential. Based on keyword analysis, azo dyes, TiO2, nanoparticles, adsorption, methylene blue, visible light, ZnO and kinetics are the most studied, and visible light mediated photocatalysis, hybrid treatment systems, nano based photocatalysis and more recently, metal based photocatalysis, have received most attention. Studies on cost and energy analysis, recovery of value-added products, development of more efficient photocatalytic materials and new photocatalyst regeneration approaches should be considered for future research. This study therefore, provides a comprehensive understanding about the trends and patterns of the specified research field worldwide. [Display omitted] •Retrospective scientometric analysis was performed for photocatalytic degradation of dye effluents between 1996 and 2020.•954 documents were identified and annual productivity followed exponential growth pattern from the year 2007.•Geographic distribution of photocatalysis research depicted that 74.8% of total publications were from Asian countries.•Research hotspots were metal based/visible light photocatalysis, green synthesis of photocatalyst and hybrid systems.•Future studies should include cost/energy analysis, efficient composite materials and value-added product recovery.