Development of Self-Sustaining Improvement Material for a Mud Film of the Weathered Soil of Red Beds

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Abstract: This is a research article, please add how to conduct the experiment with some quantitative description.

Research content and methods: please put the paragraph“why to use waste paper” into introduction part

Result: In fact, besides the test parameters, the porosity of this material is also a key parameter for plant growth, such as aeration porosity and water-holding porosity. Please reinforce this statement according to the Moisture content.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

I check the MS few days, and your study is very well. You should submit to more high-quality journal. I have no comments.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Good and valuable research has been done.

 The topic is very practical and important

 This paper mentions that:

 The red bed is widely distributed in various regions of China. Adapting measures to adjust to local conditions and using nearby materials to ecologically protect slopes, mines, and other engineering projects is a method advocated by environmental protection. The mud film of the weathered soil of red beds with improved materials for insulation and entropy preservation is commonly used in engineering ecological protection, and its self-sustainability is an important indicator to measure the protective effect. However, most of the commonly used improvement materials in production have high concentrations of chemical substances and high costs, causing environmental pollution. Thus, this study has developed four new composite improved materials using waste paper as raw material. Herein, the forming technology of the mud film of weathered soil of red beds under natural conditions is developed, the improvement effect of adding self-developed new composite materials on the self-sustainability of the mud film of weathered soil of red beds and vegetation growth is investigated, and it is compared with the conventional materials studied by the team in the early stage. The improvement mechanism and control factors of self-developed new composite materials on the self-sustainability of the mud film of weathered soil of red beds are summarized, the suitability of engineering ecological protection is improved, the regional restrictions on engineering ecological protection is cleared, and green and low-cost engineering ecological protection technology is developed.

 The manuscript is well organized and has good content.

 In the opinion of the reviewer, this manuscript note could be accepted after the major revisions and re-evaluation.

 1-  Good and comprehensive explanations are provided in the technical section.

2-  Authors are recommended to discuss the obtained results with literature in more detail.

3-  Considering the importance of part “Development of improved materials” section, it is recommended to provide more complete explanations in this regard.

4-  The quality of some figures is low (figure 2, figure 9). It is suggested to use higher quality figures.

5-  The writings are in small font in some figures (figure 8, figure 5). It is recommended to use larger fonts for better readability.

6-  The introduction can introduce some of the latest research on sustainability and soils, such as Mechanical performance of jute fiber-reinforced micaceous clay composites treated with ground-granulated blast-furnace slag and Deformation Characteristics of Rubber Waste Powder–Clay Mixtures，which can be referred and cited.

 

7-  It is recommende to use “Conclusions” instead of “Conclusion”

Minor editing of English language required

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

All of corrections have been considered.

In my opinion manuscript can be accepted.