Global analysis identifies trends in platform chemical research

An analysis of over 90,000 research papers has revealed new insight into how priorities in platform chemicals research is changing. The study identified 62 distinct topics and tracked how these developed over time in different regions of the world. It pinpointed specific trends, such as how ammonia and methanol production has shifted from focussing on efficiency to new synthetic routes, while olefins and aromatics have undergone less change. It also highlighted geographic differences, with researchers in China leaning into photo- and electrocatalytic methods more than Europe and the US.

Olefins, ammonia, aromatics and methanol account for most of the chemical sector’s carbon footprint. These platform chemicals are building blocks for countless new materials and are the focus of efforts to move away from petrochemical sources and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

However, with tens of thousands of papers published in this field, it’s difficult to see the overall picture or where research communities across the world are targeting their efforts. To tackle this, Bjarne Steffen at ETH Zürich in Switzerland and his colleagues combined topic modelling, generative AI and human expertise to analyse more than 90,000 studies.

‘Much research is happening, not least in our Swiss National Competence Center of Research NCCR CATALYSIS, but with thousands of papers it is not very clear which direction gains momentum,’ says Steffen. ‘We wanted to provide a clear, quantitative picture of where the global research community is focussing its efforts. This helps avoid blind spots and allows evidence-based policy decisions.’

Steffen’s team undertook numerous iterations of a four-step process to gather and analyse the literature on platform chemicals. They began by organising the research, then used topic modelling to group papers into categories. Generative AI helped label these topics and sort them for relevance. Finally, the team analysed the data.

The study revealed some interesting and surprising trends – including what Steffen described as a ‘dramatic rise in research on ammonia and methanol’. Ammonia-related research papers have grown by a factor of 17 since the year 2000. In fact, research on sustainable platform chemicals has grown faster than scientific research overall.

The group also found differences in priorities across the world, with work in China emphasising more risky photo- and electrochemical-based production of platform chemicals, while Europe and the US looked more to techno-economic assessments.

As aromatics research increasingly explores alternative feedstocks, the study recommends prioritising the development of advanced catalysts, in particular systems that can activate unconventional nitrogen and hydrogen sources.

The team hope that the insights in this work will help to guides future research and policies related to sustainable platform chemicals, and note that the approach they have developed here could benefit ‘any field with field with large publication volumes and diverse technology pathways’.