Synthesis of Gold-PVP Nanostructured Composites by Microplasma: A Test to Study Their Inhibiting Tendency of Avian Influenza Virus Activity

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In this work, gold-PVP colloids have been prepared by microplasma-assisted electrochemical reduction of hy-14 drogen tetrachlorauric acid (HAuCl4.3H2O) precursor. Gold-PVP nanocomposites have improved the antiviral activity against H9N2 virus as compared to 23 gold NPs. The results are well presented. But there are some issues to be addressed.

1. The authors should not only compare the performances of bare gold nanoparticles and PVP-gold nanoparticles prepared using microplasma-assisted electrochemical reduction, but also compare the nanopartilces prepared using conventional electrochemical reduction or chemical reduction.
2. The qualit of the Figures are poor, especially Figure5 (the SEM images are blur and the symbols are not consistent).

Author Response

All comments have been addressed. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Title: Synthesis of Gold-PVP nanocomposites by microplasma: A test to study their inhibiting tendency of Avian Influenza Virus activity

Authors: Muhammad Zubair *, Muhammad Shahid Rafique, Tahir Yaqub, Suliman Yousef Alomar, Afshan Khalid, Huma Gohar

1- Authors calculate the energy gap, which electronic transition direct or indirect transition?

2- The equation of Tauc plot for calculate the Eg of the samples? this equation is mentioned in these recent refs. Authors can cite on these refs.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.172214

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.09.084

Best Regards

Author Response

All comments have been addressed.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

The research article entitled “Synthesis of Gold-Pvp Nanocomposites by Microplasma: a Test  to Study their Inhibiting Tendency of Avian Influenza Virus Activity” authored by M.Zubair, M. Shahid Rafique, Afshan Khalid, Tahir Yaqub, Suliman Yousef Alomar and Huma Gohar” presents many interesting aspects of antiviral activities of AuNps and AuNp composites. However, there are a few points to be considered for correction and modification prior it could be considered for acceptance for publication and are listed below:

 

1. The English language grammar and punctuation must be thoroughly checked. Typographical mistakes are many and scattered throughout the manuscript and must be corrected.
2. The term 'nanoparticle' can be more precisely termed as "nanostructured particles". Likewise, 'nanostructured composites'
3. Line 13, 54: antimicrobial agent
4. Line no 100: Plz check the sentence
5. Line 108-109: Plz check the sentence. " microplasma processing and electrochemical reduction of colloidal gold"
6. Line No. 119-120: as shown in Fig.1(a)....
7. Line 127: Is it the innoculation process?
8. Check the sentence in Lines 126-127
9. Figure 2: Harvesting of allantoic fluid is not explained. The authors are requested to write a short description for this.
10. Please check line 148. A dot is there “A volume of. 50μL harvested”. It must be removed. Similarly, check Line 250. Line 277 e.g should be correctly written as ‘e.g.,’. In the text check the description, Fig. or Figure or figure…please make it uniform.
11. Define HA activity positive.
12. Figure 3: The description below the pictures is omitted. The authors are requested to redo the description.
13. Line 168-169" the symbol for 'degree' should be taken from MS Word 'Symbol'. It should not be ‘zero’ superscripted.
14. Lines 182-184: Authors are requested to include a reference.
15. Lines 184-185: the sentence should be supplemented with an evidential support
16. To draw conclusions from the peak heights of the XRD spectrum the peaks should be first normalized. In normalization process, the highest peak is selected, and its intensity is divided by all the rest of the peaks including itself. this will result in the highest peak as unity and rest of the peaks as fraction of unity. And then the comparison of peak heights should be carried out. The peak heights correspond to the amount of material placed on the sample holder. A larger sample amount will definitely result in enhanced peak heights corresponding to greater amount of reflecting planes available in the sample. This analysis should be done using normalization method.
17. Line 185-186: this sentence should be rephrased.
18. What is the size of AU-nanostructured particles with and without involving PVP from SEM image?
19. The discussion should be elaborated to explain a few more results, such as mechanism of action of antiviral activity, comparison of results with other research publications.
20. Lines 309-311. The study presented in this article is in vitro study. Unless and until an in vivo study is performed, this cannot be claimed. The authors are requested to bring a logistic approach to their conclusions without exaggerating the results rather than bringing a real time data.
21. I recommend a minor revision of the manuscript.

Author Response

All comments have been addressed. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The comments have been addressed. The format and language could be further improved.