A bibliometric review of hydrogen fuel cell research: trends in safety, reliability, and performance analysis (2020–2024)

With increasing global attention on sustainable energy solutions, hydrogen Fuel Cells (FCs) have gained prominence as a viable technology for addressing environmental concerns. Despite increasing research, a systematic bibliometric analysis focusing on the safety, reliability, and performance of these methods remains limited. This gap restricts the ability of regulators and risk–assessment communities to identify critical risks and research priorities. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to map the global research landscape on hydrogen FC technologies from 2020 to 2024. Scopus-indexed data is used to get citation metrics and VOSviewer-based network visualizations. A detailed assessment of publication trends, author collaborations, and thematic developments is carried out. Results indicate a significant increase in research activity, with 18,722 publications generating 380,174 citations. China, India, and the United States lead in publication volume, while Switzerland and Sweden show the highest citation impact per paper. The Dominant research themes include FC performance, hydrogen production, and emerging areas, such as microbial FCs and hydrogen storage. The study provides valuable insights for researchers, institutions, and policymakers, supporting informed decisions in journal selection, funding allocation, and strategic research planning. The need for interdisciplinary collaboration and real-world data integration is emphasised with recommendations on future research focused on commercialization, policy alignment, and expanding application domains.