United States–China rivalry and scientific nationalism in nanotechnology

Abstract Intensifying competition between the United States and China is recalibrating the balance between collaboration and competition in academic science among the two largest economies and global science producers. We explore the trajectory of nanotechnology research collaboration between the United States and China and probe the impacts of US–China decoupling on research impact. We trace changes in the frequency of US–China research collaboration between 2012 and 2024 and investigate whether the impact of research sponsored by American and Chinese funding agencies has changed in parallel with evolving patterns of research collaboration in this period. We find a decline in US–China coauthorship, which accelerates in the late 2010s. Additionally, we observe a decrease in the impact of publications funded by US funding agencies—a trend not mirrored in outputs supported by Chinese funding bodies. This study contributes to the growing body of literature exploring the influence of geopolitical dynamics on scientific activity.