Oxygen

Oxygen (O) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years

Oxygen’s research intensity stands at about 49% of its all-time peak, a level that has steadily declined over the last decade since the element’s historical high in 1992.

Research intensity ran from about 62% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 49% in 2026 — a steady decline, and the all-time peak (1992) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements fell. Among the 118 elements, oxygen has one of the largest research literatures of any element.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 202,375 in 2016 to about 471,493 in 2025 (2.33x). 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 defined by three primary communities, with oxygen serving as a critical component in electrocatalysis and biological signaling. The largest group, Oxygen Vacancies and Lattice Dynamics in Electrocatalysis, accounts for about 28% of recent oxygen research and has remained steady in share. Here, oxygen is one strand of a broader community, with about 21% of its papers involving the element. This work investigates how oxygen vacancies and lattice oxygen participation enhance electrocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution and reduction reactions. A cornerstone of this field is a 2017 paper in Science on combining theory and experiment in electrocatalysis, cited over 12,000 times, alongside a 2025 study in Science on tantalum-stabilized ruthenium oxide electrocatalysts, cited over 470 times.

The second major community, Oxygen Evolution and Peroxide Synthesis Catalysts, holds about 19% of the element's recent research but is declining, having dropped from about 25% in the earlier period. Oxygen is central to this work, appearing in about 27% of the community's papers. The research focuses on electrocatalytic oxygen evolution, peroxide production, and single-atom catalysts. Key contributions include a 2016 Science paper clarifying active sites in nitrogen-doped carbon materials, cited over 4,200 times, and a 2025 Nature paper on acidic oxygen reduction by single-atom iron catalysts, cited over 160 times.

The third community, Reactive Oxygen Species and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, represents about 12% of recent research and is also declining, down from about 17% previously. Oxygen is one strand of a broader community here, involved in about 13% of its papers. This field focuses on the generation of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial oxidative stress, and therapeutic applications. A significant 2020 review in Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology on reactive oxygen species as physiological signaling agents has been cited over 5,200 times, while a 2025 paper in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy on mitochondria in oxidative stress has been cited over 630 times.

Overall, the composition of oxygen research is shifting. While the electrocatalysis community focused on vacancies and lattice dynamics has held its ground, the communities centered on peroxide synthesis and reactive oxygen species have lost share to other research areas. This consolidation suggests that while the total volume of oxygen-related papers continues to grow in line with the broader scientific literature, the specific focus of the most intensive research is narrowing toward materials science and electrocatalysis.

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