A bibliometric review on research progress, interest evolution and future trend in the field of recycled concrete by using CiteSpace (2004–2023)

The popularization of recycled concrete (RC) is an important way to achieve efficient resource utilization of construction solid waste (CSW), which can coordinate the sustainable economic development with environmental protection. In this paper, CiteSpace software is used to quantitatively analyze the literatures on RC field, identifying its research hotspots and recent developments. Based on the Web of Science database, we screened published literatures in the field of RC from 2004 to 2023, and obtained 2011 articles. CiteSpace software and knowledge graph technology are adopted to visually analyze the literature information, including the collaborators, keywords and citation status. The results show that, Xiao JZ from Tongji University, Poon CS from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Tam VWY from University of Western Sydney publish a large number of articles and are frequently cited. It indicates that their researches are widely recognized in academic circles. There is a research team with a large size formed in the Chinese mainland, and the core members include Xiao JZ, Li WG, Chen ZP. At present, the research interest gradually shifts from recycled coarse aggregate to recycled fine aggregate, mainly focusing on microscale research of pore structure and interfacial transition zone. In addition, 8 co-citation clusters of selected references and the potential development trends are detailly analyzed. This study is helpful for researchers to fully understand the current hotspots and future research trends in the field of RC.