Construction of Spinel/Perovskite Heterojunction for Boosting Photocatalytic Performance for Polyacrylamide
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI have the following questions for the authors:
1. What amount of PAM is adsorbed in the composites during those 30 minutes of adsorption?
2. When comparing the degradation of PAW achieved with the ZFO and the BST with the composites where the amounts of ZFO were varied, the degradation values for the composites were below in comparison with ZFO alone. Is the ZFO the semiconductor responsible for generating the most significant number of electrons? Therefore, what is the function of the BST in the composite?
3. Prepare a scheme for activating composites with light without silver nanoparticles and with silver nanoparticles.
4. It is mentioned that the PAM is degraded. What are the main degradation products?
5. Do These products of the PAM degradation remain in the solution, or are they adsorbed in the composite?
6. Was the half-life test of the composites performed? It means the number of occasions that the composite will be used without losing its catalytic activity in the degradation of PAM.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsComments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Extensive editing of English language required
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe paper is about construction of spinel/perovskite heterojunctions and their catalytic use in polyacrylamide (PAM) degradation. The focus is the systematic characterization of the composite materials and the optimization of the PAM treatment.
The topic is interesting, the manuscript is fundamentally well written, the results are supported by several analytical method. The results are in good accordance with each other.
After minor revision the manuscript can be accepted.
There are only a few comments and questions that need attention from the authors:
- Please correct typos:
o at line 49 (photodegradation)
o at line 76-78, 82 the format of the references
o at line 104 (combination)
o at line 113-115 (composition)
- Please revise grammatically/rephrase:
o line 79-80 (expanding, exhibiting),
o sentence at line 131-133 (“This indicates that…”) is not clear,
o instead of simple future and other tenses passive structure is advised to be used (e.g.: at line 146 and in section 3.2. and 4.)
- The IR absorption peaks should be given without decimals.
- Figure 1. is too small to compare XRD patterns.
- In the IR analysis of the functional group changes in the samples before and after calcination in Fig S3-a-b, the determined C=O bond is probably an artifact due to the water content of the sample. (line153)
- In the TG-DSC analysis the 793 °C is most likely not an exothermic peak just a short section between the two endothermic reactions. Please support the TG-DSC analysis with literature.
- In section 3.2., at line 339-340 it is written that excessive acidity or alkalinity inhibits the photocatalytic activity. What could be the cause of this? What do you know about the surface charge of the composite catalyst and the adsorption properties of the polymer? Please include your answer in this section.
- In section 4.5.1. and 4.5.2. the initial PAM concentrations are different (100 and 75 mg/L). Why is that? Due to this difference the photocatalytic efficiency of the bare and silver modified ZnFe2O4/Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 shouldn’t be compared in the conclusion.
- The irradiation spectrum of the used xenon lamp should be added to the supplementary. During the analysis of the UV-visible absorption spectra of the samples would be nice to compare the results with this information.
- In section 4.6. important information is missing about the FTIR measurements (resolution, coaddition number, detector), please add these.
- In the supplementary material in Figure S1-d, S2-d, S3-b all of the samples contain H2O, CO2 an C-H stretching vibrations, probably due the sample preparation (KBr pastillation) which should be addressed or the quality of the spectra should be improved.
- Quality of Figure S4 should be improved.
- The whole TG-DSC curve should be given (from 20 °C) in Figure S7.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageMy comments in this regard are given in the suggestions for Authors.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors of this study introduced a novel methodology for the fabrication of spinel/perovskite heterojunctions, with the aim of enhancing the photocatalytic degradation of polyacrylamide.
To begin with, the abstract section of this publication is extremely unclear and bloated with information that belongs solely in the results and discussion section of the manuscript.
The quality of Figure 1 is significantly substandard. The current image should be substituted with an alternate one that exhibits superior quality and provides a clearer representation of the diffractograms.
The supporting information part contains the data for IR spectroscopy and EDS analysis, whereas the main text of the publication provides the explanation of these results. The lack of clarity and coherence in the presentation of data by the authors is a notable aspect. It is suggested that the writers either incorporate the aforementioned data within the main body of the paper where they have provided corresponding explanations, or alternatively, relocate all explanations of these analyses to a supplementary information file.
This problem is in my belief the most critical downside of this manuscript and it should be revised with no doubt. The aforementioned concept should be extended to encompass all similar issues seen in the document, such as TG-DSC, and so forth.
you can update your reference list with many newly published groundbreaking work in this field such as :
1. A Review on Hydrogen Generation by Photo-, Electro-, and Photoelectro-Catalysts Based on Chitosan, Chitin, Cellulose, and Carbon Materials Obtained from These Biopolymers
2. Development of copper electrochemical sensor using D-penicillamine functionalized graphene oxide modified electrode
3. Green and one-pot synthesis of Co (II) citrate complex nanoparticles/graphene oxide nanocomposites towards photocatalytic hydrogen evolution
4. Gold supported on graphene oxide/silica photocatalyst for hydrogen generation from formic acid
and so on.
Comments on the Quality of English Language
The quality of english is moderate, can be improved with minor revisions.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsNo comments
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe manuscript was improved after revision. This is acceptable.
