Scientific mapping of the relationship between nanotechnology and the fight against COVID-19 based on bibliometric analysis indicators, considering the period of 2020-2022
Nanotechnology, COVID-19, Bibliometrics
Three years after its emergence, COVID-19 continues to pose a threat to public health, impacting many facets of human life. Governments and academic institutions are working to develop vaccines and drugs, and to measure the social, psychological and environmental effects of the pandemic. Nanotechnology offers a number of approaches to deal with the health emergency caused by COVID-19 and for future pandemics, and can be used to support lung-targeted therapies, creation of rapid tests to detect viral infections, and development of new types of surfaces, resistant to viral adhesion and capable of inactivating viruses. This work consists on a bibliometric analysis of publications in the field of nanotechnology to combat COVID-19, where the main key areas studied, and the trend of studies focused on the subject were identified. The survey data were obtained from the Scopus database, and a network map was constructed with the VOSviewer program. Performance analyzes and bibliographic mapping showed that antiviral drugs did not appear on the list of study trends, and that vaccines against COVID19 represent only 20% of the explored topics. The current key areas of study focus on the Development of methods for COVID-19 Detection/Diagnosis and on the Creation of alternatives for Disinfection/Individual Protection. Publications trend is focused on development of studies with a multidisciplinary approach, with emphasis on Engineering and Materials Science areas