BIOCORROSION AND ANTIFUNGALS AGAINST Penicillium cyclopium: A BIBLIOMETRIC ASSESSMENT

Corrosion of all forms can cause many economic losses. One type of corrosion, biocorrosion, is due to the action of microorganisms including fungi and more research concerning this cause of corrosion is needed. The aim of this manuscript is divided into two parts. Firstly, we use a Scopus bibliometric analysis of publications to develop a general overview of corrosion and biocorrosion research trends from 1900 to 2021. Secondly, using a deep analysis of all the Scopus recorded publications, we determine the different antifungal agents effective against Penicillium cyclopium, used here as an example of fungi involved in biocorrosion. The general overview demonstrates a clear progression and increase of number of publications in the two fields of corrosion and biocorrosion. However, from a total of 304,863 publications related to corrosion, only 1.5% are related to biocorrosion. The most studied metal is "steel" followed by "alloy'' and "aluminum". For microorganisms, the most studied are Sulphate-Reducing Bacteria (SRB) followed by Acid Producing Bacteria (APB), Sulfur Oxidizing Bacteria (SOB) and Iron Bacteria (IB). In relation to antifungal agents for the fungus Penicillium cyclopium, we found sixteen antifungal agents described in the literature. We hope this study may give scientists insights to further examine the potential for antifungal applications in the reduction and remediation of biocorrosion.