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Analysis of institutional authors

Guerra-Rodríguez S.AuthorRodríguez E.AuthorRodríguez-Chueca J.Corresponding Author

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February 11, 2021
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UV-A activation of peroxymonosulfate for the removal of micropollutants from secondary treated wastewater

Publicated to: SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT. 770 145299- - 2021-05-20 770(), DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145299

Authors:

Guerra-Rodríguez, S; Ribeiro, ARL; Ribeiro, RS; Rodríguez, E; Silva, AMT; Rodríguez-Chueca, J
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Affiliations

Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Escuela Tecn Super Ingn Ind, Dept Ind Chem & Environm Engn, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Porto, Fac Engn, Lab Catalysis & Mat LSRE LCM, Lab Separat & React Engn, Rua Dr Roberto Frias S-N, P-4200465 Porto, Portugal - Author
universidade do porto - Author
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Abstract

© 2021 Elsevier B.V. The occurrence of micropollutants (MPs) in the aquatic environment poses a threat to the environment and to the human health. The application of sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) to eliminate these contaminants has attracted attention in recent years. In this work, the simultaneous degradation of 20 multi-class MPs (classified into 5 main categories, namely antibiotics, beta-blockers, other pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and herbicides) was evaluated for the first time in secondary treated wastewater, by activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) with UV-A radiation, without any pH adjustment or iron addition. The optimal PMS concentration to remove the spiked target MPs (100 μg L−1) from wastewater was 0.1 mM, leading to an average degradation of 80% after 60 min, with most of the elimination occurring during the first 5 min. Synergies between radiation and the oxidant were demonstrated and quantified, with an average extent of synergy of 69.1%. The optimized treatment was then tested using non-spiked wastewater, in which 12 out of the 20 target contaminants were detected. Among these, 7 were degraded at some extent, varying from 10.7% (acetamiprid) to 94.4% (ofloxacin), the lower removals being attributed to the quite inferior ratio of MPs to natural organic matter. Phytotoxicity tests carried out with the wastewater before and after photo-activated PMS oxidation revealed a decrease in the toxicity and that the plants were able to grow in the presence of the treated water. Therefore, despite the low degradation rates obtained for some MPs, the treatment effectively reduces the toxicity of the matrix, making the water safer for reuse.
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Keywords

Advanced oxidation processMicropollutantsPeroxymonosulfatePhytotoxicityUv-a led radiation

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 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, 2021, it was in position 26/279, 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: 2.41. 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: 1.79 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-27, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 49
  • Scopus: 57
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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 2026-04-27:

  • 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: 125.
  • 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: 125 (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: 12.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 9 (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/95447/

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: 10
  • Downloads: 1
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

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

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 (GUERRA RODRIGUEZ, SONIA) and Last Author (RODRIGUEZ CHUECA, JORGE JESUS).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been RODRIGUEZ CHUECA, JORGE JESUS.

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