Antimony and Arsenic in Metallurgy, Water Treatment, and Leishmaniasis
This research community addresses two distinct but chemically linked challenges: the industrial processing and environmental remediation of antimony and arsenic, and the clinical management of leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease treated with antimony-based drugs.
The work is divided into three primary strands. The first focuses on the metallurgical recovery of antimony and arsenic, specifically through copper smelting, electrorefining, and leaching processes. The second strand involves environmental engineering, detailing the removal of these metals from water and soil using adsorption, precipitation, and membrane filtration. The third strand is clinical, centering on the treatment of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis, with a heavy emphasis on the efficacy and mechanisms of meglumine antimoniate and other antileishmanial agents.
Antimony research constitutes the largest share of this community, representing 13.1% of all tracked antimony research and accounting for 4,735 papers. Arsenic and copper research follow, with 858 and 816 papers respectively. The community comprises 11,793 papers, published most frequently in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, Journal of Hazardous Materials, and JOM.
Recent work continues to span both industrial and medical domains. New studies examine the electrocatalytic removal of antimony from wastewater and the stabilization of antimony-arsenic co-contamination in soil. Simultaneously, clinical research persists in evaluating antileishmanial drug mechanisms and the management of cutaneous leishmaniasis.