Explore the dynamics of an emerging technology through research networks: The case study of Triboelectric Nanogenerator

The decision of researchers to endeavor in a specific field of study is an interesting vantage point to the emergence of a technology. The growth of a research community in size and persistence is especially important indicator of the vitality for a new field. This study looks at an emerging technology, Triboelectric Nanogenerator, invented in 2012. It is an energy harvesting technology which converts ambient mechanical energy to electricity. It has significant commercialization potential in self-powered systems for personal electronics, environmental monitoring, medical devices and even large-scale power facilities. This study aims to identify the emergence of the technology through research community indicators, analyzing research network of Triboelectric Nanogenerator. The 4-year publication abstract data of TENG studies was extracted from the Web of Science and analyzed using VantagePoint, Python Script and VOSviewer. Based on the analysis, we discuss origin and dynamics of the research network indicators and their usefulness in analyzing emergence through researcher population growth. The findings show the importance of leadership and geographic proximity of the top authors in shaping the community of a new field. Also, co-author numbers vary as more collaboration occurs among researchers with different research interests. Finally, the changing number and structure of funding organizations indicate the impact that government and industry funding has in boosting the development of a new technology. Especially, the support from industry in the early days of an emerging technology may indicate great potential in researchers' enrolment. The findings provide a new perspective to evaluate emerging technologies.