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Analysis of institutional authors

Ruiz Bustinza, IÑigo EloyAuthor

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August 21, 2023
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Solar dissociation of zirconium silicate sand: A clean alternative to obtain zirconium dioxide

Publicated to: JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION. 420 138371- - 2023-09-25 420(), DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138371

Authors:

Fernández-González, D; Piñuela-Noval, J; Ruiz-Bustinza, I; González-Gasca, C; Gómez-Rodríguez, C; Quiñonez, LVG; Fernández, A; Verdejaf, LF
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Affiliations

Univ Int Valencia VIU, Valencia 46002, Spain - Author
Univ Oviedo UO, Nanomat & Nanotechnol Res Ctr CINN CSIC, Principado Asturias PA, Avda Vega 4-6, El Entrego 33940, Asturias, Spain - Author
Univ Oviedo, Sch Mines Energy & Mat, Dept Mat Sci & Met Engn, Oviedo Uvieu 33004, Asturias, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Escuela Tecn Super Ingn Minas & Energia, Dept Ingn Geol & Min, Madrid 28003, Spain - Author
Univ Veracruzana, Ctr Invest Recursos Energet & Sustentables CIRES, Av Univ Veracruzana Km 7-5, Coatzacoalcos 96538, Veracruz, Mexico - Author
Univ Veracruzana, Fac Ingn, Dept Mecan, Campus Coatzacoalcos,Av Univ Km 7-5, Coatzacoalcos 96538, Veracruz, Mexico - Author
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Abstract

Application of concentrated solar energy (CSE) in the industry of materials is a promising alternative that is developing in recent years to reduce the environmental impact while accomplishing the objective of producing high-quality products. It is important to enlarge the processes being studied with the competition of CSE to find the most attractive for the scalation up to the industrial level and thus contributing to the energy transition in the field of materials. Systematic laboratory research has been conducted within the thermal decomposition of metal carbonates, sulphates, hydroxides, and metal oxides with promising results using CSE, which has the competing advantage of heat production without releasing pollutants and the construction of the installation as principal cost. Nevertheless, the thermal decomposition of zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4), despite of the importance of zirconium dioxide in the field of ceramics and the high energy consumption in the process, has never been reported in the literature using CSE. The process proposed in this manuscript consists of two stages, the pyrometallurgical one, based on the direct application of CSE to ZrSiO4 to dissociate it into ZrO2 and SiO2, and the hydrometallurgical one, based on the aqueous extraction of the zirconium dioxide with NaOH at 200 °C for 6 h in pressure reactor. The double-stage process based on CSE leads to the synthesis of close to 95% purity monoclinic ZrO2. The energy for the pyrometallurgical route is supplied by a renewable energy source (CSE), thus contributing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the synthesis of ZrO2.
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Keywords

aluminacalciumceramicsconcentrated solar energydecompositiondesignfurnacemembranesoxidereactorrenewable energysolar energysustainabilitytransformationsPsa plataforma solarZirconia

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position 24/358, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Environmental Sciences. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.67. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.28 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-09, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 11
  • Scopus: 11
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-09:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 20.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 20 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 2.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/77354/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 247
  • Downloads: 1
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Mexico.

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