Incorporation of Mg²⁺/Si⁴⁺ in ZnGa₂O₄:Cr³⁺ to Generate Remarkably Improved Near-Infrared Persistent Luminescence

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I recommend the publication of the manuscript after a minor revision.

Wrong title of the manuscript: "Title Incorporation of Mg2+/Si4+ in ZnGa2O4:Cr3+ to generate remarkably improved near-infrared persistent luminescence" Remove the word “Title”.

Write keywords in alphabetical order.

Kindly insert a short paragraph with Statistical analyses, and explain the method, the software used, and all the parameters related to these statistical experiments.

Insert reference for eq. (line 257). 

Lines 220-223, 286-287: insert references and more details.

Line 300: no reference in the text about fig. 9.

References are not written according to the Guide of Authors (ref. [18] and so on).

Insert in References some articles that fit in this field published in “Coatings” journal, MDPI.

Insert Author Contributions, Data Availability Statement, Conflict of interest, Funding.

If possible, I recommend the following references:

[1] https://doi.org/10.1364/OME.6.001329

[2] Țălu, Ș. (2015). Micro and nanoscale characterization of three dimensional surfaces. Basics and applications. Napoca Star Publishing House: Cluj-Napoca, Romania (pp. 21-27).

This paper presents an interesting approach and deserved to be published after the mentioned revisions.

Author Response

To Reviewer 1

Thank you very much for your understanding of the significance of our work.

1. The wrong word “Title” has been removed from the title.
2. The keywords have been revised in in alphabetical order.
3. The mentioned issues including the software used and the parameters to the statistical experiments have been added in the experimental section in red. Please refer to page 2 in red.
4. The reference has been added, following your suggestion.
5. The references and detail discussion have been added in the text in red. Please refer to page 9 and page 13 in red.
6. The Figure 9 has been mentioned in the text.
7. The references have been checked according to the Guide of Authors, and the error format has been revised.
8. The mentioned content has been added. Please refer to page 15 in red.
9. The mentioned references and related references from “Coatings” have been added. Please refer to ref [3,4, 18-20].

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript entitled "Title Incorporation of Mg2+/Si4+ in ZnGa2O4:Cr3+ to generate re- markably improved near-infrared persistent luminescence" by Shimeng Zhang et al. is a nice piece of solid-state material chemistry and crystallography.  It is well written and it is accurate. I have only a couple of minor issues.

1- line 43: please change "...may possible produce.." to "...may possibly produce..";

2- Figure 7 (a): the range plotted is too broad and clarity might be gained by plotting a restricted energy range. For instance, start the plot at h\nu=4 eV rather than at h\nu = 1.5 eV as presently done;

3- in my opinion the Conclusion section should not be a mere recapitulation of what is already explained in the main body of the paper. I would like that the authors expand this Conclusion section by adding some sentences about the significance of their results and maybe to their possible applications.

Author Response

To Reviewer 2

Thank you very much for your understanding of the significance of our work.

1. The sentence has been revised as "...may possibly produce..". Please refer to page 1 in red.
2. Figure 7a has been revised following your suggestion.
3. The conclusion has been revised following your suggestion. Please refer to page 15 in red.