Influence of Biosynthesized Nanoparticles Addition and Fibre Content on the Mechanical and Moisture Absorption Behaviour of Natural Fibre Composite

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

- Authors need to incorporate the SEM image of green Al2O3 with its size.

- The purity of the developed green Al2O3 need to be highlighted with experimental graph values.

- Realtime experimental images need to be included along with the Fig 1 (a - f) for better understanding.

- Throughout the manuscript typographical errors need to be checked (ex: "... the sixten composites... ".

- How the authors confirmed it as "nano Al2O3"? Justify.

- Authors have performed DOE without any further analysis and the mean effect plots will not show the impact. justify and include the analysis part in the manuscript?

- The experimental images need to be included for the water absorption part.

- Result and discussion part need to be checked and rewrite with proper scientific justification.

- Based on the modification rewrite the abstract and conclusion.

- Grammar check is required.

Author Response

Please see the attachment 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Title:

·         bio synthesized must be as biosynthesized or bio-synthesized.

·         Authors said (iii) 0, 1, 3, and 5% NaOH concentrations. But in the Material and method section: varying concentrations of NaOH (2, 4, and 5 wt. %) solution for 4 hours. What is the correct conc. of sodium hydroxide.

·         The green Al2O3 is generated from neem …. should be (The green aluminum nanoparticles (Al₂O₃-NPs) is generated from neem….).

Abstract:

·         Sisal/Flax-based must be sisal/flax-based …..

·         The authors don’t mention that they used epoxy in the preparation of nanocomposite in the abstract.

Materials and method

·         The source of all chemicals used must be illustrated their source and quality.

·         All devices used must define the way of application, the Company name, the Country, Etc.

Results and discussion

·         The prepared nanoparticles must be characterized at least by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).

·         The authors must be illustrated if there are remnants of NaOH residual in fiber, the least amount of NaOH will react with aluminum NPs and form sodium aluminate.

·         The extract obtained from neem leaves must be analyzed by HPLC to discuss the most important component that converts the Al nitrate to oxide in nanoform.

In general: English editing is required.

The discussion of the results is very shallow.

The authors must mention the importance of adding these various fillers to epoxy.

Author Response

Please see the attachment 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

There are some minor modifications for the authors to take into consideration:

1.    The English language throughout the manuscript should be carefully revised.

2.    Add mathematical equations to show the positive behavior of nanoparticles.

3.    Develop diagnostic measurements for nanoparticles. Like SEM and others, as clearer than the SEM images, because these images are scale in millimeters.

4.    Explain the role of nanoparticles in improving the behavior. You can benefit from the following studies, which show the role of specific surface area and hotspots in improving nanoparticle performance:

·       Wali, L.A., Hasan, K.K. & Alwan, A.M. An Investigation of Efficient Detection of Ultra-Low Concentration of Penicillins in Milk Using AuNPs/PSi Hybrid Structure. Plasmonics 15, 985–993 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-019-01096-4

·       Wali, L.A., Alwan, A.M., Dheyab, A.B., Hashim, D.A.: Excellent fabrication of Pd-Ag NPs/PSi photocatalyst based on bimetallic nanoparticles for improving methylene blue photocatalytic degradation. Optik 179, 708-717.

·       The growth of the silver nanoparticles on the mesoporous silicon and macroporous silicon: a comparative study. Indian Journal of Pure & Applied Physics (IJPAP) 55(11), 813-820 (2017).

·       Allaa A. Jabbar, Alwan M. Alwan, Mehdi Q. Zayer, Azhar J. Bohan,Efficient single cell monitoring of pathogenic bacteria using bimetallic nanostructures embedded in gradient porous silicon, Materials Chemistry and Physics, Volume 241,2020,122359,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2019.122359.

Author Response

We are thankful to the reviewers for their reviews. We incorporated the changes suggested by the reviewers.

Reviewer 3

1. The English language throughout the manuscript should be carefully revised

Response: All the grammatical errors were checked and removed from the manuscript.

2. Add mathematical equations to show the positive behavior of nanoparticles

Response: Mathematical chemical equations for the positive behaviours of nanoparticles were added to the revised manuscript.

The reaction of NaOH in natural fibers were expressed in equation (1)

The formation of sodium aluminate expressed in the equation (1)

The chemical reactions during the synthesis process also expressed in the following equations

3. Develop diagnostic measurements for nanoparticles. Like SEM and others, as clearer than the SEM images, because these images are scale in millimeters.

Response: Additional SEM and TEM images were incorporated into the revised manuscript.

4. Explain the role of nanoparticles in improving the behavior. You can benefit from the following studies, which show the role of specific surface area and hotspots in improving nanoparticle performance:

• Wali, L.A., Hasan, K.K. & Alwan, A.M. An Investigation of Efficient Detection of Ultra-Low Concentration of Penicillins in Milk Using AuNPs/PSi Hybrid Structure. Plasmonics15, 985–993 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-019-01096-4
• Wali, L.A., Alwan, A.M., Dheyab, A.B., Hashim, D.A.: Excellent fabrication of Pd-Ag NPs/PSi photocatalyst based on bimetallic nanoparticles for improving methylene blue photocatalytic degradation. Optik 179, 708-717.
• The growth of the silver nanoparticles on the mesoporous silicon and macroporous silicon: a comparative study. Indian Journal of Pure & Applied Physics (IJPAP) 55(11), 813-820 (2017).
• Allaa A. Jabbar, Alwan M. Alwan, Mehdi Q. Zayer, Azhar J. Bohan,Efficient single cell monitoring of pathogenic bacteria using bimetallic nanostructures embedded in gradient porous silicon, Materials Chemistry and Physics, Volume 241,2020,122359,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2019.122359.

Response: Results and discussions were modified based on the mentioned articles, and the same was incorporated into the reference section of the revised manuscript.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Manuscript can be published for possible publication.

Author Response

Pls check the attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript needs to be improved substantially in terms of English grammar and sentence construction. The manuscript must be edited by a professional English editor.

The characterization of the devices used must be transferred to 2. Materials and methods section not in 3. Result and Discussion section; e.g lines 254-258, 296- 302.

Figure 5 shows the XRD characteristic of Al2O3-NPs which was obtained from JCPDS card No. 42-1468, the author must insert the raw data of the XRD Figure for his sample. Al2O3-NPs showed the diffraction peaks 2Ɵ ~ 43.8°, 35.0°, 57.4°, 25.4°, 68.1°, 52.5°, 37.7°, and 66.5°

The author said in line 302 that; The injection volume was 10 liters. I think it is too much.

Line 306, the author Zhang et al. (2013) not found in the Ref.

Line 309 Ref. 31 is not used well.

Author Response

Pls check the attached file 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx