Copernicium

Copernicium (Cn) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-25 · the last 10 years

Research intensity has climbed to about 98% of the element's own all-time peak, a peak that falls inside this window.

Research intensity ran from about 64% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 98% in 2026 — a steady climb, and the all-time peak (2026) falls inside this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements held steady. Among the 118 elements, copernicium has one of the smaller research literatures of any element.

The number of papers involving the element fell from about 22 in 2016 to about 14 in 2025 (0.64x). 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.

The dominant research community is Superheavy Nuclei, Heavy-Ion Collisions, and Nuclear Structure. This work centers on element synthesis and dynamics superheavy, with distinctive focus on synthesis reactions and sequential fission. Copernicium is a minor presence in a much larger community -- under 1% of its papers involve copernicium. It accounts for about 89% of the element's recent research, a share that is declining from about 94% in the previous period. A key paper in this area, "Manifestation of relativistic effects in the chemical properties of nihonium and moscovium revealed by gas chromatography studies" (2024), is cited about 19 times.

A second, unnamed research community is rising, holding about 6% of the element's recent research, up from 0% in the prior period. An anchor paper here, "Research on properties of superheavy elements copernicium and flerovium in a gas phase chemistry setup" (2023), is cited about 9 times.

A third community, Heterogeneous Catalysis for Methane Conversion, Hydrogen Production, and CO2 Utilization, shows a steady direction with 0% share of the element's recent research.

Finally, another unnamed research community is declining, with 0% share of the element's recent research, down from about 6% in the prior period. A notable paper from this group, "Study of Copernicium Nanoparticles Delivery Process in Human Cancer Cells, Tissues and Tumors Under Gravitationally Accelerating Ions Through the Super Contorted 'Tubular' Polar Areas of Magnetic Fields" (2020), is cited about 38 times.

Overall, the literature is consolidating around superheavy nuclei research while other minor communities fluctuate. Other research communities hold about 6% of the element's recent research, a rising share.

For a deeper look at copernicium's current standing, see the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.