Two poles in global nano research: Structure and evolution of the global Nano Collaborative Innovation Network

Nano Science and Technology (S&T) is one of the core areas of S&T competition among developed countries in the 21st century and plays a supporting and leading role in social, economic and technological development. As an emerging international interdisciplinary subject, cooperation is of great significance to the development of Nano S&T. Current studies of international Nano S&T cooperation focus mainly on cooperation between countries ^[1-3] without much contribution to the understanding of these global networks at a global level. Based on the Web of Science (WOS) database, this paper presents a bibliometric, statistical and social network analysis to: (1) characterize the overall status of Nano Collaborative Innovation Network (NCIN); (2) identify core and periphery countries; (3) analyze the evolution and characteristics of each node of NCIN; (4) evaluate the scientific publication output quality of each country from NCIN and analyze research hotspot changes of NCIN; and (5) visualize the NCIN network. A more detailed look at China in this NCIN provides support for improving the research quality and international influence of China´s Nano S&T.