Native and TMT Chestnut Extractives as Hydrophobic and Photostabylizing Additives for Wood Surfaces

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Review of the article: “Native and TMT chestnut extractives as hydrophobic and photostabylizing additives for wood surfaces”

 

 

               The topic of this research and output might be useful for the Forests readers. The article is very interesting and presents a rarely discussed but valuable topic regarding the potentials of chestnut extractives as hydrophobic and photostabylizing additives for wood surfaces. The conducted work is worth to publish, however needs some corrections.

 

Abstract

Lines 20 - 22: In this study, the possible efficacy of chestnut extractives derived from native (CH) and thermally modified wood (TMT CH), as protective means against UV exposure of poplar and spruce wood was evaluated.

§  Please provide the Latin names of wood species.

 

§  The abstract is very general. The identified relationships should be presented by providing numerical data. This is a more interesting form of presenting results than in a descriptive way. This will increase the citation of the article.

 

Introduction

Lines 49– 52: Živković et al. [4] demonstrated that the various consequences of light exposure, recorded as discolouration, chemical changes or structural breakdown, develop dynamically in different intensities over time and through various depth layers of wood surface.

§  In this respect, the observations are much richer, as there are a number of publications in this field e.g.

▫        Aydin I., Colakoglu G. 2005: Effects of surface inactivation, high temperature drying and preservative treatment on surface roughness and colour of alder and beech wood. Applied Surface Science 252 (2): 430 - 440

▫        Laskowska A., Dobrowolska E., Boruszewski P. 2016: The impact of ultraviolet radiation on the colour and wettability of wood used for facades. Drewno 59 (197): 99 – 111

▫        Mitsui K., Takada H., Sugiyama M., Hasegawa R. 2001: Changes in the properties of light-irradiated wood with heat treatment. Part 1. Effect of treatment conditions on the change in color. Holzforschung 55 (6): 601 - 605

 

Line 104: … Ipe and Merbau…

 

Materials and Methods

Line 134: Boards of chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.)…

§  Please enter the boards size.

The wood - research material should be better characterized i.e.

§  What was the diameter of the tree,

§  How old was it,

§  It was sapwood or heartwood?

 

Line 145: Commercial poplar (Populus spp.) and spruce (Picea abies Karst.) tangential wood…

The wood - research material should be better characterized i.e.

§  What was the diameter of the tree,

§  How old was it,

§  It was sapwood or heartwood depending on the species?

 

§  There is no information about the statistical analysis of the test results. Due to the numerical results of the research and the correctness of the interpretation of the results, statistical analysis is indispensable.

 

Results and discussion

§  Please clarify the terminology in terms of consistency, because once native, reference, control appears for the same type of samples.

§  There is a lack of consistency in the names of samples after modification. Sometimes the abbreviation TMT appears, sometimes TH. Please standardize and clarify the provisions.

§  There is no the statistical analysis of the test results. Simple t-tests should be performed to indicate whether there are differences between the analyzed numerical values ​​of the tested properties.

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Author Response

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Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Paola Cetera et al., in their manuscript entitled "Native and TMT chestnut extractives as hydrophobic and photostabylizing additives for wood surfaces," evaluated the possible efficacy of chestnut extractives derived from native (CH) and thermally modified wood (TMT CH) as protective means against UV exposure of poplar and spruce wood. However, some observations listed below were observed:

1. The manuscript contains many typos and spelling mistakes. They should be corrected.
2. The authors should add the standard deviations to the results presented in Figures 3, 4, and 5.
3. The resolution of Figures 7–10 should be improved.
4. The DOI of all cited references should be added.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor editing of the English language is required.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Comment

In this study, the UV-resistant and hydrophobic properties of modified poplar wood and spruce wood derived from natural and thermally modified chestnut extracts were evaluated. The topic of this paper involves the frontier of the discipline, which has important research significance and a wide range of application prospects. In general, the work is well done, while the conclusion is supported by the experimental and results. However, there are still some major issues to be addressed before its acceptance.

1，  The literature cited in Introduction is too old and does not reflect the current state of research in the field well, the authors need to update the discoloration, hydrophobicity article and cite the literature“Surface modifications towards superhydrophobic wood-based composites: Construction strategies, functionalization, and perspectives”

2，  The formatting of several units in the text is problematic and needs to be corrected, while the formatting of tables is inconsistent

3，  For the determination of the three elements, the author should add the composition of the wood before modification for comparison, so as to make the experimental data convincing

4，  It is necessary to add the ∆E* value of natural poplar after ultraviolet aging

5，  The authors of the article conduct aging resistance experiments on different species of wood, and there are repetitions of the test representations in the article, so that the data can be consolidated for the convenience of the reader.

6，  One more image to show the preparation process is necessary to help readers for better understanding.

It is noted that your manuscript needs careful editing by someone with expertise in technical English editing paying particular attention to English grammar, spelling, and sentence structure so that the goals and results of the study are clear to the reader.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Need to be polished.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf