Americium

Americium (Am) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years

Research intensity stands at about 33% of the element's all-time peak, a level well below the historical high set in 1969.

Research intensity for americium has followed a steady decline over the last decade. In 2016, the element’s research intensity was about 47% of its own all-time peak; by 2026, that figure had fallen to about 33%. The all-time peak occurred in 1969, which lies well before this ten-year window, meaning the recent period represents a sustained period of lower relative attention compared to the element’s historical high. Over the same span, americium’s share of research attention across all elements also fell. Among the 118 elements, americium has one of the smaller research literatures of any element.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 443 in 2016 to about 610 in 2025 (1.38x). That is slower than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element lost ground in the wider body of research even as its own count rose.

The research community most central to this element is Americium Separation and Radioisotope Power Systems, a subcommunity within the broader field of Actinide Chemistry and Nuclear Fuel Materials. This group focuses on solvent extraction for separating americium from plutonium and curium, as well as its application in radioisotope power sources. While americium is a minor presence in this larger community—accounting for about 5% of its papers—it constitutes about 46% of americium’s own recent research. The share of this community has remained steady over the window. A key paper in this area is "Beyond U/Pu separation: Separation of americium from the highly active PUREX raffinate" (2023), cited about 71 times, which explores methods to isolate americium from highly active waste streams.

A second major community is Americium Separation from Plutonium and Lanthanides, situated within Uranium Extraction, Separation, and Nuclear Fuel Cycle Chemistry. Here, the focus is on solvent extraction and chromatographic methods to isolate trivalent americium from plutonium, curium, and lanthanides. Americium is a minor presence in this community, appearing in about 3% of its papers, yet it represents about 23% of americium’s recent research. This share has also remained steady. The most cited work in this area is "Ultrafiltration separation of Am(VI)-polyoxometalate from lanthanides" (2023), published in Nature and cited over 270 times, which demonstrates a novel separation technique using polyoxometalates.

The third community, Americium Transmutation in Minor Actinide Fuel Cycles, falls under Advanced Nuclear Reactor Materials and Corrosion Science. These papers model the behavior of americium as a minor actinide in water reactors and molten salt systems to manage nuclear waste. Americium is a very minor presence here, involved in about 1% of the community’s papers, but it accounts for about 8% of americium’s recent research, a share that has held steady. A notable recent contribution is "Optimal Neutron Spectrum Database for In‐reactor 238 Pu Production" (2025), cited about 28 times, which addresses the production of plutonium-238 in reactor environments.

Overall, the composition of americium research has remained stable, with no single community gaining or losing significant share over the two five-year periods. The remainder of the research, comprising other smaller communities, holds about 23% of the element’s recent work, a share that has also remained steady.

For a deeper look at the current state of this element, you may wish to consult the Last 12 Months or Executive Brief reports.