Lanthanum

Lanthanum (La) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years

Lanthanum’s research intensity has reached its all-time peak, sitting at 100% of its historical high within this ten-year window.

Research intensity ran from about 82% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 100% 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 rose. Among the 118 elements, lanthanum has a mid-sized research literature.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 3,445 in 2016 to about 7,436 in 2025 (2.16x). That matches the growth of the literature as a whole over the same years: the general tide of scientific output, not a surge specific to the element.

The research landscape is anchored by three distinct communities. The first is Lanthanum Separation from Cerium in Aqueous Solutions, where work focuses on extracting and adsorbing lanthanum from aqueous mixtures, specifically distinguishing it from cerium and other light rare earths. Lanthanum is a minor presence in this much larger community, appearing in about 6% of its papers. It accounts for about 9.9% of lanthanum’s recent research, a share that has remained steady. A key paper in this area, "Enhanced rare-earth separation with a metal-sensitive lanmodulin dimer" (2023), was cited over 200 times.

A second major area is Lanthanum-Modified Sorbents for Phosphate and Fluoride Removal. Here, researchers synthesize lanthanum-based materials, such as modified bentonite, to capture phosphate and fluoride from water. Lanthanum is a minor presence in this community, involved in about 2% of its papers. This community represents about 9.1% of the element's recent research, holding a steady share. Notable work includes "Phosphate removal and recovery by lanthanum-based adsorbents: A review for current advances" (2022), which was cited over 200 times.

The third community is Lanthanum Oxides for Catalysis and Electrode Materials, where lanthanum silicates, gallates, and strontium-doped oxides serve as catalysts or electrode components in solid oxide fuel cells and electrolysis. Lanthanum is one strand of this broader community, appearing in about 11% of its papers. Its share of lanthanum-specific research has held steady at about 6.3%. A foundational review, "Development of lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite perovskite electrodes of solid oxide fuel cells" (2019), was cited over 460 times.

Across these communities, the composition of lanthanum research has remained remarkably stable, with no single group gaining or losing significant ground. The remainder of the element's literature, comprising other smaller research groups, holds the majority of the work. For a deeper dive into the current state of these fields, see the element's Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.