Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Phyto-Mediated Catalyst, and Its Application for a Selective Oxidation of (VAL) into Vanillin under Visible Light
, Ibrahim Bsoul 3, Sami Mahmood 4,5, Deeb Taher 1 and Tareq Hussein 4,6,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Catalysts
Manuscript number: 872895
Title: A Visible Light Driven Phyto-Mediated Nano ZnFe2O4 Oxidative Catalyst: Green Synthesis, Characterization, and Application as Recyclable Efficient Catalyst for a Lignin Valorization
The authors investigated the synthesis of ZnFe2O4 nanocatalyst by an innovative and green procedure. They applied this catalyst in the oxidation of vanillyl alcohol to vanillin. The topic is sound, and the paper is well written. The introduction shows the state-of-the-art in the field, the experimental procedure is properly described, and the discussion of the results seems reasonable. Consequently, I recommend this paper for publication after addressing some minor issues:
Major:
- In the introduction, the phyto-mediated synthesis of catalysts should be explained in more detail. Other examples of catalysts prepared by this procedure should be given and compared with the traditional chemical synthesis.
- The kinetics of the process, at least with the optimum catalytic system, should be addressed. Reaction rates should be given.
- The recyclability study should be completed indicating the reasons for deactivation. Important aspects such as metal leaching should be analyzed.
- The results obtained with the proposed catalyst should be critically compared in the context of the literature. What are the advantages of this catalyst compared to the conventional ones?
Minor:
- L313: “isolated” is a typo.
Author Response
Response to Comments by Reviewer #1
The authors investigated the synthesis of ZnFe2O4 nanocatalyst by an innovative and green procedure. They applied this catalyst in the oxidation of vanillyl alcohol to vanillin. The topic is sound, and the paper is well written. The introduction shows the state-of-the-art in the field, the experimental procedure is properly described, and the discussion of the results seems reasonable. Consequently, I recommend this paper for publication after addressing some minor issues:
Response: We thank the prospective reviewer for supporting publication and pointing out the novel part of this work.
Major:
In the introduction, the phyto-mediated synthesis of catalysts should be explained in more detail. Other examples of catalysts prepared by this procedure should be given and compared with the traditional chemical synthesis.
Response: corrected…
The kinetics of the process, at least with the optimum catalytic system, should be addressed. Reaction rates should be given.
Response: The kinetics of the reactions are being studied further and can’t be included in this study as it makes its own scope.
The recyclability study should be completed indicating the reasons for deactivation. Important aspects such as metal leaching should be analyzed.
Response: This was answered in the revised version.
The results obtained with the proposed catalyst should be critically compared in the context of the literature. What are the advantages of this catalyst compared to the conventional ones?
Response: The advantages of this catalyst were addressed in the conclusions section.
Minor:
L313: “isolated” is a typo.
Response: corrected…
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript entitled “A Visible Light Driven Phyto-Mediated Nano ZnFe2O4 Oxidative Catalyst: Green Synthesis, Characterization, and Application as Recyclable Efficient Catalyst for a Lignin Valorization” contains material-centered studies showing an interesting example of synthesis of nanostructured compound (namely ZnFe2O4) and using it for selective oxidation of (VAL) into vanillin under visible light.
In general the manuscript is well written. There is enough data presented for conclusions formulated in d section. Nevertheless, I found some deficiencies, which should be corrected prior further processing of the manuscript.
- In my opinion the title should be shortened. As a matter of the fact the main purpose of that studies was synthesis and characterization of novel phyto-mediated catalyst, and its application for a selective oxidation of (VAL) into vanillin under visible light. It does not fallow clearly from the present title.
- Lack of statistics for testing various reaction conditions (results presented in Figure 7a, b) catalyst loading effect in toluene oxidation (Figure 8 ), oxidation of vanillin to vanillin acid (Figure 9) and recyclability test (Figure 10) – it is a great importance to show that observed differences excess fluctuation between the series.
- Figures 3b are of too low quality – descriptions of the axis and legend are unreadable.
- The authors should provide the information of the origin of Boswellia certerii.The Latin names of species are usually (in scientific papers) typeset in italics (Page 2 , line 84; page 10, line 297).
- The authors should better characterized a source of light (section entitled “photocatalytic reaction”). LED lamp (or lamps – it is not apparent from description) emits light with varied wavelength. Besides, according Figure 7, UV light was also applied, is it true?
- Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydroxyl radicals should be marked as ⋅OH.
Besides editorial issues mentioned above I found a few literal errors, not unified sizes of fonts and improper use of subscripts (Table 2).
Concluding, I recommend presented paper for publication but after supplementation of some the most important points (2-6).
Author Response
Response to Comments by Reviewer #2
In general the manuscript is well written. There is enough data presented for conclusions formulated in d section. Nevertheless, I found some deficiencies, which should be corrected prior further processing of the manuscript.
Response: We thank the prospective reviewer for giving the constructive revisions and suggestions that improved the manuscript in the revised form.
- In my opinion the title should be shortened. As a matter of the fact the main purpose of that studies was synthesis and characterization of novel phyto-mediated catalyst, and its application for a selective oxidation of (VAL) into vanillin under visible light. It does not fallow clearly from the present title.
Response: The title was changed as suggested. Actually the title fits perfectly…
- Lack of statistics for testing various reaction conditions (results presented in Figure 7a, b) catalyst loading effect in toluene oxidation (Figure 8), oxidation of vanillin to vanillin acid (Figure 9) and recyclability test (Figure 10) – it is a great importance to show that observed differences excess fluctuation between the series.
Response: experiments were repeated two/three times in order to confirm the results. The results were repeatable. The mean was presented. The standard deviation was too small to be presented or mentioned.
- Figures 3b are of too low quality – descriptions of the axis and legend are unreadable.
Response: The fitting details were copied to the caption.
- The authors should provide the information of the origin of Boswellia certerii. The Latin names of species are usually (in scientific papers) typeset in italics (Page 2 , line 84; page 10, line 297).
Response: corrected.
- The authors should better characterized a source of light (section entitled “photocatalytic reaction”). LED lamp (or lamps – it is not apparent from description) emits light with varied wavelength. Besides, according Figure 7, UV light was also applied, is it true?
Response: the details of the LED bulbs and the UV tube were added in the beginning of section 2.3.2, which was related to the effect of light source and type.
- Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydroxyl radicals should be marked as ⋅
Response: corrected…
Besides editorial issues mentioned above I found a few literal errors, not unified sizes of fonts and improper use of subscripts (Table 2).
Response: Table 2 was restructured. Also all other tables were double checked.
Concluding, I recommend presented paper for publication but after supplementation of some the most important points (2-6).
Response: in the revised version all these points were taken into account.
