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Polymers
Volume 13
Issue 3
10.3390/polym13030425
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Article
Peer-Review Record

Investigation of Functionalized Surface Charges of Thermoplastic Starch/Zinc Oxide Nanocomposite Films Using Polyaniline: The Potential of Improved Antibacterial Properties

Polymers 2021, 13(3), 425; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13030425
by Korakot Charoensri 1,†, Chatchai Rodwihok 2,†,‡, Duangmanee Wongratanaphisan 3, Jung A. Ko 1, Jin Suk Chung 2,* and Hyun Jin Park 1,*
Reviewer 1: Anonymous
Reviewer 2: Anonymous
Polymers 2021, 13(3), 425; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13030425
Submission received: 31 December 2020 / Revised: 20 January 2021 / Accepted: 21 January 2021 / Published: 28 January 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Polymer Composites)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The article is well written, easy to read, the research has novelty. There is some minor revision necessary, regarding typing and editing mistakes. For example, when you described the materials used, the producers should be written  using capital letters (for the first letter of the word).

Author Response

Revised manucript is attached in PDF file

Reviewer 2 Report

Manuscript presents several fundamental flaws.

  1. FTIR results revealed serious concerns: spectra does not present proper resolution; peak assigned to C-O vibration cannot be identified; spectra only suggest the presence of PANI and cannot be used to confirm the proposed functionalization, as suggested by authors (lines 191 - 192); FTIR spectra usually starts with high wavenumbers in the x-axis.
  2. XRD results do not provide significant data;
  3. XPS resuls:

a. Line 219. The functionalized ZnO samples exhibit C-N and C-NH3+ 220 peaks at 399.81 eV and 401.72 eV, respectively, which confirm the appearance of PANI of the ZnO surface [41].

Reference list does not contain the reference 41.

b. Line 221. Additionally, a shifting peak of Zn 2p can be observed following PANI functionalization, as shown in Figure 3B (b). This peak corresponds to Zn 2p1/2 from 1022.28 eV (ZP0) to 1022.48 eV (ZP3) and to Zn 2p3/2 from 1045.38 eV (ZP0) to 1045.58 eV (ZP3) [42]. These results support the occurrence of chemical interactions between the PANI molecules and ZnO surfaces. 

Reference 42 does not provide evidences that both peak shiftings could be used to confirm the functionalization. This reference was not properly cited.

4. Line 34-36. The incorporation of ZnO NPs has been reported to have a positive effect on the antibacterial activity of biopolymers, including soy protein isolated, chitosan, and starch [4,7,19,20].

Since the effects of ZnO NP incoporation on antibacterial activity of starch has been already investigated, this manuscript does not provide any novelty. Despite the several fundamental flaws.

 

 

 

Author Response

Revised manucript is attached in PDF file

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Accept in the present form.

 form.

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