Analysis and prospects of the development status on the dust suppressant research field in the past 20 years

To reveal the research progress and development trends in the field of dust suppressants, this paper systematically searched the research literature of “Dust suppressant” included in the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) from 2003 to 2023, and used VOSviewer and CiteSpace to conduct quantitative analysis. The number of publications in the 2017–2023 period is 14 times that of the 2003–2016 period, with China and the United States accounting for 62.5 % and 11.4 %, respectively. The main research content focuses on the development of dust suppressants for specific application scenarios, the characterization and evaluation of dust suppression performance, and the innovations in the mechanisms and effects of dust suppression. The results show that the development of dust suppressants has shifted from a single function to a composite function to meet the functional and performance requirements of complex application scenarios. The selection of dust suppression raw materials has shifted to the secondary utilization of agricultural, industrial and domestic wastes, which improves the environmental protection and economy of dust suppressants and promotes the recycling of resources. The characterization and evaluation methods of dust suppression performance have gradually shifted from a research and development model primarily based on experimental testing to one primarily based on simulation analysis with experimental testing as a supplement. Microbial dust suppressants expand the traditional principle of physical and chemical dust suppression, and innovate the types of dust suppressants through biocalcification, but it is still necessary to further reduce the use cost and improve the biological activity and dust suppression efficiency through optimization research such as strain optimization and multiple synergy. Some novel nanofluid dust suppressants, enzyme dust suppressants and microcapsule dust suppressants have become new research growth points in the field of dust suppression.