Abstract:ESI database discovered research fronts in science through co-citation clustering method, each front consisted of a group of highly cited papers (Top 1%) that have been co-cited above a set threshold of similarity strength and their associated citing papers. This paper identified 1 391 research fronts related to nanoscience and technology from all 11 814 research fronts in ESI database by literature search and expert identification. Further, these research fronts were categorized into several research themes by expert identification. This paper focused on four research themes (solar cells, biomimetic nanopores, nanocatalysis and measurement and characterization), comparing the performance of producing highly cited papers among competitive countries and revealing the excellent research teams and well-performed research fronts of China.