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Analysis of institutional authors

De La Rubia, MaCorresponding AuthorMassana, JAuthorPeralta, FaAuthorMoragues, AAuthorReyes, EAuthor

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September 11, 2025
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Article

Sustainable low-cement blends featuring blast furnace slag, metakaolin and nanosilica show remarkable long-term durability against chlorides for one day curing age

Publicated to: Case Studies In Construction Materials. 22 e04511- - 2025-07-01 22(), DOI: 10.1016/j.cscm.2025.e04511

Authors:

Ruiz, AI; de la Rubia, MA; Massana, J; Peralta, FA; Moragues, A; Reyes, E
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Affiliations

Univ Politecn Madrid, Agroforestry Engn Dept, ETSI Agron Alimentaria & Biosistemas - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Civil Engn Construct, ETSI Caminos Canales & Puertos - Author

Abstract

Current cement production routes are facing an environmental challenge given the large amount of CO2 emissions. With the objective of decreasing its carbon footprint, herein, low-cement blended mixtures containing pozzolanic ground blast furnace slag, metakaolin and nanosilica or a combination thereof have been studying referred to the mechanical properties and the longterm durable behaviour. The mixtures underwent chloride exposure for an initial curing age as critical as is 1 day and were subsequently subjected to extensive characterization of their durable behavior at intervals of 3, 6, 12, and 18 months. Regardless of their final composition, the substitution of cement with slag, metakaolin and nanosilica allowed reduction of cement by 75-80 % and the resulting blended mixtures successfully met the standard mechanical properties displayed by the Portland cement (OPC) 42.5 R type I in some cases with a decrease of only 5 %. Blended mixtures combining all three pozzolanic components showed the highest electrical resistivity, 4 and 10 times higher than the reference for 7 and 28 days of ccuring age respectively. Compositions with reduced cement content show chloride migration coefficients with a 50 % reduction compared to the reference at one day of cure and of the same order as this composition but for 28 days curing age. For chloride diffusion, the differences in apparent and effective coefficients are much larger than for migration, being several orders of magnitude smaller for the reduced cement content samples at all exposure ages in the study and even when compared to the 28-day cured reference. Sustainable blends show diffusion and migration characterization. Even after 18 months of exposure, these blended mixtures exhibited outstanding durability, surpassing the standard reference cement. Finally, we found that the optimal performing blend had a composition in wt% including 25 cement, 65 blast furnace slag, 8 metakaolin and 2 nanosilica. This novel chloride durability study is critical as it is carried out for exposure periods as long as 18 months and with a curing age of 1 day for sustainable compositions with a very low cement content of 20-25 wt% demonstrating that sustainable alternatives to conventional cement may pave the way towards environmentally friendly construction materials.
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Keywords

BindingBlast furnacesCalciumCarbon footprintCement contentCement manufactureChloride durabilityChlorides durabilityConcreteConcrete beams and girdersCuring ageFurnace slagsGround blast furnace slagGround blast-furnace slagHydrationLow cement contentMechanicalMetakaolinMetakaolinsMortarNano silicaNanosilicaPortland cementPozzolanicPozzolanic activitySilicaSlag cementSlagsSteelStrengthSustainability

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Case Studies In Construction Materials 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, 2025, it was in position 15/183, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Engineering, Civil.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-12-27:

  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 1
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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 2025-12-27:

  • 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: 21 (PlumX).

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

    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:

    • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
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    Leadership analysis of institutional authors

    There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Ruiz, AI) and Last Author (REYES POZO, ENCARNACION).

    the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been RUBIA LOPEZ, MIGUEL ANGEL DE LA.

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