Scientometric analysis of the knowledge domain in nanotoxicology

The successful development and especially the commercialization and clinical translation of nanotechnology are unthinkable without nanotoxicology. Nanotoxicology in the last ten years has become an essential branch of knowledge, emerging at the intersection of nanotechnology and toxicology. However, despite its importance, the previous scientometric analysis of nanotoxicology was carried out ten years ago and is clearly outdated. The task was to scientometrically study the domain of nanotoxicology over the past decade. More than 3000 articles and 56 journals connected with nanotoxicology were analyzed. Two different nanotoxicology domains were established. The first one is associated with green synthesis and ecotoxicology. This approach formed a separate nanotoxicology branch, primarily presented in India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and their close geographic partners. The constant search for biocompatible nanoparticles performing various functions in the body has become the focus of the USA, China, and some European countries. Cluster analysis also showed that there are two different approaches to nanotoxicology. Extensive growth of published articles relates to some of Asia's countries (India, Saudi Arabia, Iran), while intensive development is revealed for the USA, China, and Brazil. Analysis of new keywords showed possible trends in nanotoxicology for the near feature. Such keywords as biocompatibility, ecotoxicology, green synthesis, graphene oxide, and peptides can set future development directions.