A Bibliometric and Critical Review of Cellulose-Based Aerogels for Wastewater Treatment

The treatment of refractory wastewater pollutants requires advanced materials capable of synergistic enrichment and destruction. Cellulose-based aerogels, combining biomass sustainability with a porous structure, are a promising platform, yet a quantitative synthesis of this field's evolution is lacking. This study presents the first bibliometric and visual analysis of 463 publications on cellulose-based aerogels for wastewater treatment. The field shows S-shaped growth, evolving from a Nascent phase to Exponential Growth and now entering Maturation. Social network analysis reveals a China-centered but increasingly international collaboration pattern, while institutional productivity remains fragmented into multiple small research teams. The foundation rests on two synergistic pillars: adsorptive sequestration and catalytic degradation, with research evolving from their parallel development to active fusion. Current frontiers focus on sustainable system engineering, emphasizing process integration, material regeneration, and advanced precursors like cellulose nanofiber. This analysis maps the field's maturation from material exploration toward integrated catalytic system design, providing a foundational reference and clear directives for future research to address integration challenges. In addition to bibliometric mapping, this review critically discusses treatment functions (adsorption, catalytic oxidation, and integrated pathways) and deployment barriers (regeneration, recyclability, and scale-up feasibility), thereby linking knowledge evolution to practical wastewater-treatment translation. While China contributes the largest publication share in the present dataset, the field is supported by increasing participation from multiple countries and regions.