Iodine

Iodine (I) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-25 · the last 10 years

Iodine’s research intensity stands at about 43% of its all-time peak, a level that has steadily climbed over the last decade despite the element’s historical peak occurring in 1962.

Research intensity ran from about 37% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 43% in 2026 — a steady climb, and the all-time peak (1962) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements rose. Among the 118 elements, iodine has a larger-than-average research literature.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 32,225 in 2016 to about 58,957 in 2025 (1.83x). 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 largest material research community is Iodide Perovskite Thin Films for Photovoltaics, a subcommunity focused on the synthesis and stability of lead, tin, and bismuth iodide perovskite thin films for solar cells. Iodine is one strand of a broader community, with about 10% of its papers involving iodine. This community accounts for about 15.7% of iodine’s recent research, a share that has declined from 22.7% in the previous period. A key anchor is the 2017 Science paper "Iodide management in formamidinium-lead-halide–based perovskite layers for efficient solar cells," cited over 5,400 times, alongside the 2022 Science study "Inactive (PbI 2 ) 2 RbCl stabilizes perovskite films for efficient solar cells," cited over 1,400 times.

The second major community is Thyroid Cancer Management, Iodine Nutrition, and Autoimmune Thyroid Disease. Here, iodine is central to the research, appearing in about 63% of the community’s papers. This field represents about 15.0% of iodine’s recent research, down from 21.8% previously. Distinctive work in this area includes the 2024 JAMA review "Thyroid Cancer," cited over 630 times, and the 2016 Thyroid guidelines for hyperthyroidism, cited over 2,900 times.

The third community is Hypervalent Iodine Reagents in Metal-Free Organic Synthesis, where iodine(III) salts serve as oxidants and catalysts for bond formation, offering a metal-free alternative to transition-metal cross-coupling. Iodine is a minor presence in this much larger community, involved in about 4% of its papers. It holds a steady share of about 7.3% of iodine’s recent research. A notable recent contribution is the 2024 Chemical Reviews article "Recent Progress in Synthetic Applications of Hypervalent Iodine(III) Reagents," cited over 210 times.

Overall, the composition of iodine research has shifted: the two largest communities, perovskite photovoltaics and thyroid medicine, have both seen their share of iodine-specific research decline, while the remainder of the literature has grown to hold about 62% of the element's recent work. The most-cited paper of the window, "Iodide management in formamidinium-lead-halide–based perovskite layers for efficient solar cells" (2017), belongs to the perovskite community and is already noted above.

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