Comprehensive Review of Modification, Optimisation, and Characterisation Methods Applied to Plant-Based Natural Coagulants (PBNCs) for Water and Wastewater Treatment
, Yeek-Chia Ho 1,*, Lavania Baloo 1, Man-Kee Lam 3, Pau-Loke Show 4,5,6,7 and Wawan Sujarwo 8Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The topic of the manuscript is interesting and within the journal scope. The authors reported a Comprehensive Review on Modification, Optimisation, and Characterisation methods applied to Plant-based Natural Coagulants (PBNC) for Water and Wastewater Treatment.
This review investigates the modification, optimisation, and characterisation of plant based natural coagulants applied to water treatment.
Different techniques are used in determining the physicochemical properties of plant-based natural coagulants. Some of these techniques have been tabulated, describing what properties each technique is capable of investigating.
The manuscript is well-written but not organized logically. I suggest publication, perhaps with minor revisions considering.
1. I suggest that chapters 2-6 be placed under Literature review.
2. Improve the quality of figures 1 and 2.
3. The Conclusion needs refining and more quantitative expression with aspects of the advantages and disadvantages of some methods.
In my point of view, this paper is interesting and may be accepted with minor revision.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
We thank the reviewer for careful reading of the manuscript and constructive comments for the manuscript. We have taken the comments on board to improve and clarify the manuscript. In the following, we highlight general concerns of reviewer that were common and our effort to address these concerns.
The topic of the manuscript is interesting and within the journal scope. The authors reported a Comprehensive Review on Modification, Optimisation, and Characterisation methods applied to Plant-based Natural Coagulants (PBNC) for Water and Wastewater Treatment.
This review investigates the modification, optimisation, and characterisation of plant based natural coagulants applied to water treatment.
Different techniques are used in determining the physicochemical properties of plant-based natural coagulants. Some of these techniques have been tabulated, describing what properties each technique is capable of investigating.
The manuscript is well-written but not organized logically. I suggest publication, perhaps with minor revisions considering.
Author reply: Noted with many thanks.
Comment 1: I suggest that chapters 2-6 be placed under Literature review.
Author reply: Noted with thanks and considered. We have placed chapter 2-6 under Literature review as chapter 2, and chapter 2-6 are now subchapter 2.1-2.5. Chapter 3 is now conclusion.
Corrections made in manuscript:
- Literature Review
2.1. Plant-based Natural Coagulants (PBNC)
2.2. Modification of plant-based natural coagulants using grafting copolymerisation method
2.2.1. Microwave Radiation-induced graft copolymerisation
2.3. Optimisation of plant-based natural coagulants using response surface methodology (RSM)
2.4. Characterisation of plant-based natural coagulants using different Techniques
2.5. Challenges and future perspectives of plant-based natural coagulants for water and wastewater treatment Please see pages 2-14
Comment 2: Improve the quality of figures 1 and 2.
Author reply: Noted and considered. The quality of figures 1 and 2 have been improved by enhancing figure text and graphical icons. Please see pages 3 and 5.
Comment 3: The Conclusion needs refining and more quantitative expression with aspects of the advantages and disadvantages of some methods.
Author reply: Noted and considered. The conclusion has been refined and a quantitative expression with respect to cost of running experiment has been outlined. Please see page 15 second paragraph, second sentence.
In my point of view, this paper is interesting and may be accepted with minor revision.
Author reply: Noted with many thanks.
Once again, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the reviewer for careful reading of the manuscript and constructive comments for the manuscript.
Reviewer 2 Report
In this study, the main question addressed by the research is:
This review looks into how plant-based natural coagulants that are used in water treatment can be modified, optimized, and characterised. Plant-based materials' drawbacks prevent their use as substitutes for chemical coagulants, demanding their modification to change and improve their physicochemical characteristics and make them suitable for use. When compared to traditional approaches, modification by microwave-assisted grafting copolymerization has been determined to be the most favoured. It has been demonstrated that response surface methodology can be used to optimize the coagulation process. Various methods are employed to ascertain the physicochemical characteristics of plant-based natural coagulants. The properties that each of these approaches is capable of examining have been listed for some of these procedures in a table. The synthesis of new materials that are stable and appropriate for use as coagulants in water treatment will be the outcome of the modification and optimization of plant-based natural coagulants.
I found the paper interesting to read and enjoyed it. The topic is relevant to the field. And tries to enhance the interest in plant-based natural coagulants that are used in water treatment.
I found the study adequate.
The conclusion is well written.
I found that the references are appropriate.
I have no additional comments on the tables and figures.
I found the minor errors as follows:
It was hard for me to follow up the abbreviation. Please consider defining each abbreviation starting from the beginning. Adding an abbreviation list may make the readability better.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
We thank the reviewer for careful reading of the manuscript and constructive comments for the manuscript. We have taken the comments on board to improve and clarify the manuscript. In the following, we highlight general concerns of reviewer that were common and our effort to address these concerns.
In this study, the main question addressed by the research is:
This review looks into how plant-based natural coagulants that are used in water treatment can be modified, optimized, and characterised. Plant-based materials' drawbacks prevent their use as substitutes for chemical coagulants, demanding their modification to change and improve their physicochemical characteristics and make them suitable for use. When compared to traditional approaches, modification by microwave-assisted grafting copolymerization has been determined to be the most favoured. It has been demonstrated that response surface methodology can be used to optimize the coagulation process. Various methods are employed to ascertain the physicochemical characteristics of plant-based natural coagulants. The properties that each of these approaches is capable of examining have been listed for some of these procedures in a table. The synthesis of new materials that are stable and appropriate for use as coagulants in water treatment will be the outcome of the modification and optimization of plant-based natural coagulants.
I found the paper interesting to read and enjoyed it. The topic is relevant to the field. And tries to enhance the interest in plant-based natural coagulants that are used in water treatment.
Author reply: Noted with many thanks.
I found the study adequate.
Author reply: Noted with many thanks.
The conclusion is well written.
Author reply: Noted with many thanks.
I found that the references are appropriate.
Author reply: Noted with many thanks.
I have no additional comments on the tables and figures.
Author reply: Noted with many thanks.
I found the minor errors as follows:
It was hard for me to follow up the abbreviation. Please consider defining each abbreviation starting from the beginning. Adding an abbreviation list may make the readability better.
Author reply: Noted and considered. All abbreviations have been considered from the beginning of the manuscript to the end. Each abbreviation has been written in full the first time it is mentioned in a section. Furthermore, a list of abbreviation has been development in a separate document, if need be, to add to manuscript. Please find among the submitted documents List of Abbreviations_sustainability-2196023.
Once again, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the reviewer for careful reading of the manuscript and constructive comments for the manuscript.
Reviewer 3 Report
1. Figure 2 has bad visibility
2. In Tables 3 and 4 pust the header on next side as well.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 3 Comments
We thank the reviewer for careful reading of the manuscript and constructive comments for the manuscript. We have taken the comments on board to improve and clarify the manuscript. In the following, we highlight general concerns of reviewer that were common and our effort to address these concerns.
Comment 1: Figure 2 has bad visibility.
Author reply: Noted and considered. The visibility of figure 2 has been improved by enhancing the figure text and graphical icons. Please see pages 3 and 5
Comment 2: In Tables 3 and 4 put the header on next side as well.
Author reply: Noted and considered. A header for table 3 and 4 has been put on the next page as suggested. Please see pages 9-13.
Once again, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the reviewer for careful reading of the manuscript and constructive comments for the manuscript.
