Application of Porous Materials in Photocatalytic Treatment of Wastewater
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis manuscript reported the porous materials in photocatalytic wastewater treatment. The structure of this manuscript needs to improve further.
Herewith my comments:
1. Table 2 shows the porous materials for wastewater treatment application. It would be good to include the properties of the materials, such as the BET surface area or type of isotherm, according to IUPAC.
2. The classification of the organic pollutants should be organized properly. E.g., dye wastewater, micropollutant wastewater, etc. More systematic classification needed. Please refer to this ref: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2024.105625 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2022.122294
3. That's no discussion on how the pore structure of the photocatalysts affects the photocatalytic properties (eg, bandgap, ROS formation) on the wastewater treatment process. More specific information is needed.
3. Figure 7 shows the mechanism of the photocatalytic system for water treatment. The Figure 7 labeling for the conduction band and valence band unit is not correct should be V not eV. It is recommended to find other references. Please refer to this reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127652
4. It will be good to provide the mechanism of how porous photocatalysts improve the water treatment performance.
-https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtsust.2023.100482
-https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.143470
Comments on the Quality of English Language
This manuscript should be proofread by a native English speaker
Author Response
Thank you very much for taking the time to review our manuscript. Please see the detailed responses and corresponding revisions with track changes in the revised manuscript.
Comment 1: Table 2 shows porous materials for wastewater treatment applications. According to IUPAC, it would be useful to include material properties such as BET surface area or isotherm type.
Response 1: Thank you very much. We agree with you. We have changed Table 2 to Table 1 and added material specific surface area properties and contaminant degradation efficiency to the table.
Comment 2: The classification of organic pollutants should be well organised. For example, dye wastewater, micropollutant wastewater, etc. A more systematic classification is needed. Please refer to this reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2024.105625 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2022.122294
Response 2: Thank you very much. We referenced and cited the literature provided and added the classification of organic pollutants in the section on photocatalytic treatment of porous material wastewater.
Comment 3: This is not a discussion on how the pore structure of the photocatalyst affects the photocatalytic properties (e.g., band gap, ROS formation) of the wastewater treatment process. More specific information is needed.
Response 3: Thank you very much. We have added the effect of pore structure of porous materials on the photocatalytic performance for wastewater treatment in the introduction section.
Comment 4: Figure 7 shows the mechanism of a photocatalytic system for water treatment. The labelling of Fig. 7 for conduction band and valence band units is incorrect it should be V instead of eV... Please refer to this reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127652
Response 4: Thank you very much. We agree with you. To avoid misunderstanding, we have removed Figure 7 and cited the relevant reference in the revised version.
Comment 5: It would be good to provide the mechanism of how porous photocatalysts improve water treatment performance.
-https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtsust.2023.100482
-https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.143470
Response 5: Thank you very much. We have added a relevant discussion on the mechanism of how porous photocatalysts improve water treatment performance, citing the literature provided. In the introduction section, we further added the reasons why the pore structure of photocatalysts has significant advantages in photocatalytic treatment of wastewater and elucidated the mechanism of photocatalysis by porous materials.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsComments to author
The manuscript entitled "Application of Porous Materials in Photocatalytic Treatment of Wastewater" examines the synthesis, characteristics, and uses of porous materials in the treatment of wastewater. The topic is pertinent because to the increasing environmental issues associated with water contamination. Though, the manuscript requires minor revision before publication.
Comments to the authors are given below.
1. Introduction section is very general. I suggest the author to provide the specific content in the introduction part.
2. What is porous material? I suggest the author to explain about the porous material in the introduction section.
3. Table 2 is incomplete and lacks of information. I suggest the author to insert degradation efficiency and time taken for the treatment in the table.
4. Which method is effective for the synthesis of porous materials?
5. The labeling of figure 2 is not clear.
6. The future applications section addresses the integration of photocatalysis with alternative technologies but does not suggest particular procedures or experiments to tackle difficulties like scalability or stability.
7. The author didn’t cover the complete literature. I suggest the author to cite more articles related to the work.
Author Response
Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. Please see the detailed responses and corresponding revisions with track changes in the revised manuscript.
Comment 1: The introduction section is very general. I would suggest that the authors provide specifics in the introduction section.
Response 1: Thank you very much. We agree with you. We have added the definition of porous material and the effect of pore structure of porous material on photocatalytic performance for wastewater treatment in the introduction section.
Comment 2: What are porous materials? I suggest the authors to explain porous materials in the introduction section.
Response 2: Thank you very much. We agree with you. We have added a definition of porous materials in the Introduction section.
Comment 3: Table 2 is incomplete and lacks information. I suggest that the authors insert degradation efficiency and time required for processing in the table.
Response 3: Thank you for pointing out that we found an error in the serial number of the table and have changed Table 2 to Table 1. In the meantime, we have added material-specific surface area properties and contaminant degradation efficiencies to Table 1.
Comment 4: Which method is effective for the synthesis of porous materials?
Response 4: Thank you for your question, we have already analysed the advantages and disadvantages of methods for synthesising porous materials in the section on synthesis of photocatalysts based on porous materials.
Comment 5: The labelling of Figure 2 is not clear.
Response 5: Thank you very much. We have modified the labels in Figure 2 to make the presentation clearer.
Comment 6: The Future Applications section discusses the integration of photocatalysis with other technologies, but does not suggest specific procedures or experiments to address difficulties such as scalability or stability.
Response 6: Thank you for pointing out that in the section ‘Future applications and development of porous structure-carrying material catalysts for wastewater treatment’, we have provided some guidance on the future direction of photocatalysis in relation to technology and materials synthesis.
Comment 7: The authors did not cover the complete literature. I suggest that the authors cite more articles related to this work.
Response 7: Thank you very much. We have added 4 references related to photocatalytic treatment of wastewater with porous materials in the full text supplement.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors have adequately addressed the comments.
Comments on the Quality of English Languagethis manuscript should be proofreading by a native English speaker.
