Characteristics of Kaolinitic Raw Materials from the Lokoundje River (Kribi, Cameroon) for Ceramic Applications

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

First of all, the manuscript is very interesting but:

1. The topic of the article is soil, more precisely clay soil. In order for the behavior of clay soil to be clear to all readers, I suggest that you explain the behavior of clay soil in the introduction.
3. You talk about clays as raw materials for the ceramic industry, you need to support this with relevant factors.
4. State the geotechnical characteristics of clay soil used in the ceramic industry, and so on....

I suggest the following changes:

Line 45 to 61 -To make it clear to everyone, explain the geology of the subject area in more detail. Then explain in more detail why the subject area was chosen for the research. You have not provided any relevant facts for the selection of the subject area in this chapter.
Line 60 - In figure 1 correct the resolution, it is unclear where Figure 1a, 1b and 1c are in Figure 1. Use the recommended resolution of Appl. Sci. and use the allowed font (applies to all figures in the manuscript).
Line 62 to 78 - Also, for most readers who will be reading the article you need to explain why you used temperatures of 800, 900, 1000 and 1100 C. Why you used briquettes in the test. Explain why you used PAN Analytical X’PERT PRO and first of all what it is and what it is used for. and so on 
Line 79 to 88 - You mention Atterberg limits, explain why you used the same for comparison. Explain what you expected with that comparison.

Since the article has many shortcomings, I suggest that you supplement them with relevant facts and comparisons,
explain the methods used and why these methods are relevant to your research.
Connect the article into one complete unit, to make it easier for readers to follow it.
The figures are not clear and the font on them is too small.
When you correct all of the shortcomings, I will be happy to review the article once more and give my expert opinion, considering that I have been dealing with clay soil, its exploitation, use in the industry and construction for more than 15 years.

Author Response

See attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

I think this is a very premature work that requires very major editing before publication. In the following my detailed comments.

• This work has a regional interest, to make it more appealing comparisons should be provided with clays from other sources and discussed.
• In the MS clay and clay minerals should be accurately mentioned and distinguished.
• TGA figures have some issues in the y-axis. The labels report very small mass losses in %. Check and revise.
• New references from last 2/3 years are missed. Please update it.
• Error bars in fig 8 for mechanical performace are mandatory for a proper comparison. 

Author Response

See attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

I am satisfied with the answers offered and the changes made by the author. 

Reviewer 2 Report

revised ms is suitable for publication