A Simple Bibliometric Insight into Nanocellulose Publications and Research Focus
Edwin Kristianto Sijabat, Samsul Arifin

Institut Teknologi Sains Bandung

Abstract

Nanocellulose has garnered increasing attention due to its renewable nature, biocompatibility, and broad range of potential applications, particularly in materials science. This study presents a lightweight bibliometric and text mining analysis aimed at exploring recent publication trends, research focuses, and keyword patterns in nanocellulose-related studies. Using metadata retrieved from the Scopus database for the years 2021 to 2025, we compiled a dataset of 2,971 documents that mention ^Cellulose,^ ^Nanocellulose,^ or ^Nano-cellulose^ and are indexed under the subject category of Materials Science. Our methodology involved combining bibliometric visualization using VOSviewer with text analysis tools such as Python-based Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), WordCloud, and matplotlib. The analysis revealed major contributing countries, institutions, journals, and authors. Materials Science and Chemistry were identified as the dominant subject areas, with China emerging as the leading contributor in terms of both publications and funding. Keyword mapping uncovered frequent terms such as ^composites,^ ^films,^ ^biodegradability,^ and ^hydrogels,^ indicating major research themes. In addition, co-citation analysis revealed distinct clusters that connect application-based studies with core nanocellulose material research. The integration of Gen-AI, including concensus.app, further supported the synthesis of emerging patterns and hotspots. This study offers a compact, accessible overview for researchers and stakeholders interested in the evolving landscape of nanocellulose research, helping to inform strategic planning, academic collaboration, and future investigations in the field of sustainable nanomaterials.

Keywords: Nanocellulose, Bibliometric, Scopus, Trends, Visualization, Mapping, Python

Topic: Science Education