Raman Spectroscopy of Common Fertilizers in Aqueous Solution and Their Detection

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

In this article, the authors present the Raman spectra of several common fertilizers and a simple model for the determination of the concentration of fertilizers. This detection technique shows promise in the quantification of the effect of nonpoint source pollution. The topic is interesting and could attract a wide readership. Therefore, I recommend its publication after the following issues are addressed.

1. Why do common fertilizers have dyes in them? This should be described since the dye will complicate the detection of fertilizers.

2. The advantages of Raman spectroscopy in the analysis of fertilizers should be described in more detail in the introduction part.

3. DUV is used for the Raman spectroscopy in this study. This is not favorable to its practical applications in real fertilizer detection.

4. Figure 5 shows a very linear curve. What is the linear range for this curve?

5. For the detection, the sensitivity is very critical. However, it is not shown in this study.

6. The detection limit is also critical for a sensor system used for the fertilizer detection. This value should be further discussed for the current detection approach. 

7. The authors are recommended to cite relevant literatures such as ChemElectroChem 2016, 3, 144 and Agriculture 2024, 14(7), 1184. These literatures provide other potential detection approaches for comparison and possible future studies.   

Author Response

Please see attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript describes Raman spectroscopy for detecting fertilizers in water. This article reads more like a report or research note than a full paper.

The work is interesting and relevant but lacks novelty. Several works have been done to identify fertilizers in water using Raman. So, I feel that the true novelty of the work has to be mentioned in the introduction. Also, a few more related works shall be included in the introduction and should be cited in the reference. Furthermore, the Raman peaks shall be assigned and explained. 

Author Response

Please see attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf