On Modeling of Synthesis Process of Boron Carbide Based Nanocomposites

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have developed a mathematical modeling involving a system of differential equations for the purpose of simulating the chemical synthesis of boron carbide/titanium diboride nanocomposites. The method has been explained quite rigorously in the paper, and will be of interest to the community involved in the production of boron carbide/titanium diboride nanocomposites.

However, I have one criticism of the paper – the authors have not made any attempt to generalize the method that they have developed and have restricted their discussion to only one system of nanocomposites. To make the paper of more general interest to the wider readership of Condensed Matter, the authors should include a paragraph discussing the possibility of extending their modeling to other nanocomposite systems. For example, please look at the paper Nanoscale Adv., 2020, 2, 851. In this paper, the authors have reported an innovative, symbiotic synthesis of LaFeO₃-CoFe₂O₄ nanocomposites, where the heat of formation of one phase (CoFe₂O₄) crystallizes the second phase (LaFeO₃). They have also reported that this symbiotic synthesis works in the most optimum way for a particular weight fraction of the two phases of the nanocomposites (LaFeO₃:CoFe₂O₄ = 50:50). Similar synthesis approaches were reported for other nanocomposite systems also, for example, Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃-CoFe₂O₄ (Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 511 (2020) 166792) and SrFe₁₂O₁₉-CoFe₂O₄ (Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/abd20d). Discussing the applicability of their modeling to such different nanocomposite systems with appropriate references will substantially increase the potential use of this method in the wider field of nanocomposites and their chemical synthesis.

Author Response

Authors are very thankful to Reviewers for their positive evaluation and comments useful for improving the Manuscript.

“… the authors have not made any attempt to generalize the method that they have developed and have restricted their discussion to only one system of nanocomposites. … Discussing the applicability of their modeling to … different nanocomposite systems … will substantially increase the potential use of this method … .”

To generalize the developed method and not be restricted discussion to only boron carbide / titanium diboride nanocomposites, there is added Section 9 discussing the possibility of extending such modeling to other nanocomposite systems.

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Because of addition a Section and some references, Sections and References are renumbered.

All the changes made during revision are shown in blue.

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper is original, well written and timely. Just a few suggestions. the Authors may compare with the results reviewed in the review paper below, to see possible data explainable/interpretable within their model. "Synthesis and Consolidation of Boron Carbide: A Review", January 2010, International Materials Reviews 55(1):4-40, DOI: 10.1179/095066009X12506721665211

• A.K. Suri
• C Subramanian
• J.K. Sonber
• Tammana S R Ch Murthy
•  
• Also I am surprised not to find comparison with early papers, e.g. Appl. Phys. A 79, 1757–1759 (2004). However, with minor modifications the manuscript can be published.

Author Response

Authors are very thankful to Reviewers for their positive evaluation and comments useful for improving the Manuscript.

“The Authors may compare with the results reviewed in the review paper below, to see possible data explainable / interpretable within their model. “Synthesis and Consolidation of Boron Carbide: A Review”, January 2010, International Materials Reviews 55(1):4-40 …”

Previously reported results on synthesis and consolidation of boron carbide reviewed in that paper are discussed to see data explainable / interpretable within the model proposed for chemical synthesis of boron carbide based nanocomposites.

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Because of addition a Section and some references, Sections and References are renumbered.

All the changes made during revision are shown in blue.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have introduced an additional section in their revised manuscript discussing the possibility of extending their developed method to other nanocomposite systems, in line with my comment in the previous report. This has improved the quality of the manuscript, and will make it interesting to a wider range of readers.

I, therefore, recommend that the revised manuscript be accepted for publication.

Author Response

Authors are very thankful to Reviewers for their positive evaluation and comments useful for improving the Manuscript.

Authors revised Manuscript with a reduced number of self-references.

This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.