Promethium

Promethium (Pm) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-25 · the last 10 years

Research intensity remains low, sitting at about 17% of the element's all-time peak, which occurred in 1964, well outside this window.

Research intensity ran from about 16% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 17% in 2026 — essentially flat across the window, and the all-time peak (1964) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements rose. Among the 118 elements, promethium has one of the smaller research literatures of any element.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 79 in 2016 to about 148 in 2025 (1.87x). 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 communities where promethium appears are dominated by fields where the element is a minor player. The largest group is Lanthanide and Actinide Coordination Chemistry for Magnetic and Optical Applications, where promethium is a minor presence in a much larger community -- under 1% of its papers involve promethium. This community accounts for about 16% of the element's recent research, a steady share compared to the previous period. A key paper here is "Observation of a promethium complex in solution" (2024), cited about 43 times.

Next is Superheavy Nuclei, Heavy-Ion Collisions, and Nuclear Structure, where promethium is also a minor presence in a much larger community -- under 1% of its papers involve promethium. This community holds about 9% of the element's recent research, which is steady relative to the earlier period. Notable work includes "Atomic transitions and the first ionization potential of promethium determined by laser spectroscopy" (2019), cited about 13 times.

The third material community is Rare Earth Extraction, Separation, and Permanent Magnet Manufacturing. Here, promethium is a minor presence in a much larger community -- under 1% of its papers involve promethium. However, its share of promethium-specific research has declined significantly, dropping from about 30% in the first period to about 5% in the current period. A representative paper is "Lanthanide-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases require an essential aspartate residue for metal coordination and enzymatic function" (2020), cited about 70 times.

Overall, the composition of promethium research has shifted away from extraction and manufacturing contexts toward coordination chemistry and nuclear structure, with the remainder of the literature distributed across other smaller communities.

The most cited paper in the window belonging to a named community is "Observation of a promethium complex in solution" (2024), cited about 43 times.

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