Application of Vegetable Oil-Based Monomers in the Synthesis of Acrylic Latexes via Emulsion Polymerization

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The topic of the research work and manuscript is really interesting and provides new information. However there are some issues to be addressed towards its quality improvement before publication. 

You rather use passive voice and avoid writing "we did this/that". In line 169, please provide some information on Hanuš method. Provide at least 1 or 2 pictures of the production process or the testing process of the specimens (which constitutes as well an evidence of your work). You should specify in the whole text as regards the substrates (proposed/tested) that are suitable for the examined coatings. In conclusions it is important to highlight the meaning and significance of this work, the contribution to research and industrial world, the impact of the findings.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

Dear reviewer,

Thank you very much for your comments. We tried to incorporate them into our manuscript as best as we could. In addition, we have checked typographical and grammatical errors using the assistance of a native speaker.

Point 1: You rather use passive voice and avoid writing "we did this/that".

Reply: We have corrected these expressions in the text.

Point 2: In line 169, please provide some information on Hanuš method.

Reply: We provided the information.

Point 3: Provide at least 1 or 2 pictures of the production process or the testing process of the specimens (which constitutes as well an evidence of your work).

Reply: We provided the suggested picture of the production process in the Supplementary material.

Point 4: You should specify in the whole text as regards the substrates (proposed/tested) that are suitable for the examined coatings.

Reply: We have provided the information regarding the proposed substrates in the Introduction and Conclusions.

Point 5: In conclusions it is important to highlight the meaning and significance of this work, the contribution to research and industrial world, the impact of the findings.

Reply: We tried to provide information on the impact of the findings including proposed industrial applications.

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Editor, dear Authors, Martin Kolář et al. submitted a paper on the synthesis of vegetable oil-based polymer latexes via emulsion polymerization. The authors performed a modification of rapeseed oil, and technical-grade oleic acid to produce acrylated monomer that were successfully copolymerized with methyl methacrylate and butyl acrylate at different ratio (0-20 wt. % in the monomer mixture). They have demonstrated that long-term stable latexes could be obtained by using up to 15 wt. % of the bio-based monomers during the polymerization process. Furthermore, they have used asymmetric flow field flow fractionation coupled with a multi-angle light scattering detector to study of the molar mass distribution of acrylic copolymers. Their results showed that ultra-high molar mass fractions are detected in copolymers comprising the bio-based monomers. Finally, they have also investigated the coating properties, such as gloss, adhesion, and water resistance of the prepared latexes and verified their comparable performance with the reference acrylic coating. For my opinion, the manuscript content is of interest, and the authors have performed a detailed study, the results are well supported with experimental evidence. Therefore, I believe that the manuscript can be accepted in its present format for publication in Coatings MDPI Journal.

Sincerely Yours,

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 2 Comments

Dear reviewer,

Thank you very much for a very favorable review. We have checked and corrected English using the assistance of a native speaker.

Reviewer 3 Report

The comments and suggestions to the authors are inserted into the attached document.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 3 Comments

Dear reviewer,

First of all, thank you very much for a very favorable review. We greatly appreciate the proofreading, valuable advice, and time you devoted to our manuscript. It is wonderful feedback for us and a great help to improve the quality of the article, but also to our future work. We tried to incorporate all your comments and corrections into our manuscript.

Many thanks again!