In 2021, Scientific Reports published over 1200 Chemistry papers and we are pleased to share with you 100 of the most downloaded articles* from last year. 

Top 100 in Chemistry

Some personal highlights for me are Trace compounds in Early Medieval Egyptian blue carry information on provenance, manufacture, application, and ageing by Schmid & Dariz. Here authors use modern chemical methods and imaging to investigate the archeological synthesis and use of blue pigments (Egyptian blue) using samples from the second church building of St. Peter above Gratsch (South Tyrol, Northern Italy, fifth/sixth century A.D.). In a similar vein, Archaeometric evidence for the earliest exploitation of lignite from the bronze age Eastern Mediterranean by Buckley, Stockhammer, Spiteri, et. al. provides evidence for the use of brown coal (lignite) in the bronze age and were even able to link the use of lignite to particular individuals from their inhalation of combustion markers. These papers to me really demonstrate the broad applicability and use of Chemistry and chemical methods.

I also enjoyed The same chemical state of carbon gives rise to two peaks in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy from Greczynski & Hultman as a reminder that no matter how well-established a technique might be, there is always something new to learn!

Congratulations to all authors who contributed to these highly valuable research papers!

*Data obtained from SN Insights, which is based on Digital Science's Dimensions.