Ascorbic Acid as an Adjuvant to Unbleached Cotton Promotes Antimicrobial Activity in Spunlace Nonwovens

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors clarified the underlying mechanism of the ascorbic acid as an adjuvant to the antimicrobial performance. The process is simple and robust. The work is of important in wound healing.

The following issues should be addressed before being accepted for publication.

1. The results are not sufficient, for example, the appearance of the samples should be given, other properties of the samples, such as contact angles, should be provided.

Author Response

RESPONSE TO REVIEWER 1 COMMENTS

The authors clarified the underlying mechanism of the ascorbic acid as an adjuvant to the antimicrobial performance. The process is simple and robust. The work is of important in wound healing.

The following issues should be addressed before being accepted for publication.

1. The results are not sufficient, for example, the appearance of the samples should be given, other properties of the samples, such as contact angles, should be provided. 

Response: We have given out this type of information (contact angle information and images of the fabrics etc.) in previous publications as are cited in the paper.

Reviewer 2 Report

1. The introduction has nothing to do with the topic of the paper. It should be corrected.
2. Some sentences are too long and should be shortened. 
3. In the results section:
   - we do not discuss the results obtained in this section. 
   - Section 2.2 - the first sentence should be moved to discussion. 
4.  What kind of interactions is described here :" It is notable that wide bands ranging between 1675 cm-1 and 1800 cm- 1 appear for the treated fabrics of this study, while this same feature is missing for the 
   untreated sample (Figure 5, black trace)".
5.  The discussion is up for rewrite. 
6. Have toxicity tests been performed on the materials tested?
7.  On what basis were Vit. C concentrations chosen?
8. What was the significance of testing biomaterials for SARS-Cov-2?

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

In the manuscript entitled "Ascorbic acid as an adjuvant to unbleached cotton promotes antimicrobial activity in spunlace nonwovens", the authors present their work creating fabrics with added ascorbic acid that demonstrate antimicrobial and antiviral properties. The work is quite elegant, and the manuscript requires only minor revisions for clarity in places.

1. The concept of low levels of ascorbic acid promoting wound healing is brought up several times. What are the impacts on wound healing when the concentrations tested in this manuscript are present?  No analysis or next steps in relation to this comparison are given in the manuscript.  This reviewer strongly recommends not opening a door that you are not intending to explore at this time!
2. The Results section requires revisions. In particular:
   • The figures and tables are not adequately described in the results section. Therefore, applicable controls are difficult to determine in the figures and the abbreviations become more cumbersome than necessary.
   • Figures 5 and 6 use different abbreviations than the rest of the manuscript. If abbreviations are to be used, they should be standard throughout the document for clarity.
   • The way that the results are described, they seem to be more interpretive than descriptive. This distinction likely will be able to be resolved through rewording rather than rearranging – e.g., the text on lines 113-128.
3. The description of Materials and Methods are overly vague in places. In particular:
   • Line 389 – The materials are said to be “from existing supply/inventory.” Is that comment necessary if the subsequent text describes the origin of said materials?  Or does it refer to other materials not listed? – in which case those materials need to be stated.
   • Line 396 – What is the “commercial” source of the materials?
   • Line 467 – Where are the procedures summarized? Are the authors referring to the description in the previous subsection?  This protocol is mentioned in the results yet not summarized there either.  Please clarify the content of the AATCC-100 test method.

Author Response

Please see attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

In my opinion, this article needs re-writing and performing more tests confirming their properties. 

Author Response

We have provided a revised edited manuscript addressing the issues and included a new Figure to depict the appearances of the Fibers in the treated fabrics (Figure 7). As well as explanation beginning on line 281.