Discussions on the Properties of Emulsion Prepared by Using an Amphoteric Chitosan as an Emulsifier
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Review applsci-1695373-peer-review
Article:
Properties of Emulsion Affected by Using an Amphoteric Chitosan as Emulsifier
Comments to the Authors:
The manuscript addresses a very important issue such as substituting the use of an acrylate for an amphoteric derivative of chitosan. However, the authors must explain and correct some important aspects of the topic in order to highlight the importance of their work.
The authors must properly define what an emulsion is, for example, in the abstract they define it as “homogeneous mixture”. Remember that an emulsion is a disperse system composed of at least two immiscible phases where one of the phases is dispersed in the form of dispersed drops in an external phase also called continuous phase.
The authors characterize the emulsion by its moisturizing or moisture retention. What do the authors refer to? Define this emulsion characteristic and explain.
Pag 2 line 53: In the article the results of ref. 14, are not well interpreted. There it is stated that chitosan is a surfactant. In that study, Chitosan was described and used as a copolymer (weak polyelectrolyte) not a surfactant. The surfactant used in that study (ref 14) was Lecithin. Please correct.
Table 1. The name of the table could be improved, the emulsification processes are not described there. The table shows the type of chitosan molecule used in the emulsification and the characterization studies carried out.
Pag 6 Figure 4: How the authors verify the structure of n-octyl-O-sulfate chitosan?. If the authors declare that it is a surfactant, they could determine its CMC, (critical micelle concentration) or another analytical technique that ensures the obtaining of that molecule.
What is the composition of the system shown in Figure 6? How does an emulsion have such a high transmittance? What are the emulsion droplet size or distribution?
Page 9 Section 3.4. Please, explain the composition of the emulsions to which the stability test is performed. The authors should review in the literature the methods to determine the stability of an emulsion. The emulsions should not be diluted because the composition is changed and the resulting stability would not correspond to that of the emulsions studied. The authors can determine the phase separation but without dilution, using for example centrifugation cycles.
Figure 8: Chitosan or modified amphoteric chitosan? It is not understood what molecule was used in the System to stabilize the emulsions. is chitosan or n-octyl-O-sulfate chitosan the molecule that is compared to sodium acrylate copolymer
The authors could indicate, as an objective of the investigation, what is the reason for substituting sodium acrylates copolymer for modified chitosan to obtain an emulsion. What is the application of that emulsion?
Authors are also encouraged to review the following references
Qiaoli Zhao, Liuping Fan, Yuanfa Liu, Jinwei Li, Recent advances on formation mechanism and functionality of chitosan-based conjugates and their application in o/w emulsion systems: A review, Food Chemistry, Volume 380, 2022, 131838,ISSN 0308-8146, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131838.
Utai Klinkesorn (2013) The Role of Chitosan in Emulsion Formation and Stabilization, Food Reviews International, 29:4, 371-393, DOI: 10.1080/87559129.2013.818013
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Recommendation: It appears that publication in any form at this time would be premature.
General comments to the authors:
This manuscript documents the replacement of sodium acrylates copolymer with modified chitosan with in the processes of emulsion production, and the moisture retention, emulsification condition, and bacterial growth were examined using both emulsifiers. Overall, the paper is not very fundamental in nature; the focus of characterization is only based on IR experiments for such a comparison. This is not a typical paper in Appl. Sci. journal and therefore maybe better suited for another journal. If the paper focused on the property changes as a function of composition with more experiments (such as measuring the particle size either by DLS or TEM techniques) and a deeper fundamental explanation of these changing properties, this would be more appropriate for Appl. Sci. journal
Several other comments:
1. The title of the research article is too general. It matches more if it was a review paper.
2. Abstract, at the end of the abstract, all these results should contribute to a general conclusion showing the most significant contribution of the research to the knowledge field.
3. Introduction, Line 102: The paragraph is not related to the previous. It is more related to the first two paragraphs. Avoid "zig-zag" between paragraphs. The reading should be connected, and the "funnel" model in the Introduction should be followed.
4. Introduction, Lines 90-92: Important! The goal of the study is very short written here. Please mention the novelty of the work the problem statement clearly and what makes it different from other similar studies that have been done so far. In order to do this, similar studies should be substantially discussed and cited properly.
5. Result and discussion, the stability of the samples with two different emulsifiers could be assessed better by DLS and UV spectroscopy measurements.
6. The conclusion of the study is too broad. It could be improved with precise outcomes with a take home message.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Chuang et al. provide an interesting study about emulsifiers study. Relative abundance experiments have been performed in their study, and minor revisions are suggested at this step from the reviewer's opinion. Detailed comments are listed below.
- Kindly add more quantitative results in the abstract part.
- Kindly enrich more background information in the introduction by incudign more updated literature, like applying this kind of emulsifier in the oil and gas industry-hydraulic fracturing activities. The article below is suggested to be consulted. Investigations of CO2 storage capacity and flow behavior in shale formation. JPSE. 2022.
- Figure 1 suggests that it is suggested to redraw this schematic it lloks like the vacuum pump are too big compared with the main setup.
- 8 and similar figures, kindly use different symbols for two lines
- 9, time to “Time”
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Dear Authors,
The manuscript entitled "Properties of Emulsion Affected by Using an Amphoteric Chitosan as Emulsifier" presents a stabilization of emulsions by using chitosan. However the Manuscript presents serious weaknesses from scientific and English point of view. Please, take a look in my comments below:
- The quality of the Figures is very low;
- The use of some English words is not scientific. In specific, "was better", "is less", without any comparison with the data;
- Section 2.2, lines 140-144: you need to insert all the informations related to the emulsion production;
- Many other points not related to a scientific Manuscript.
For this, I need reject your Manuscript.
Best,
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Your article has been accepted
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors well addressed the comments by the reviewer, purely from the point of view of the reviewer, this article could be published.
