Poly(lactic acid)-Based Blends: A Comprehensive Review

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors reviewed the PLA based blends according to the different polymers used. Each polymer was introduced and the relevant studies were cited. However, there are some major concerns/issues within the manuscript:

1. Current manuscript only lists different polymers that can be used to improve the properties of PLA and lacks deep and thorough discussion. For instance, what are the main differences that the different polymers can contribute to the PLA blends? I see the modulus was discussed within all the blends but no comparison or further discussion was carried out for the readers to better understand the differences. It is really difficult for the readers to really understand the differences among the blends listed.
2. Following on last point, I would suggest the authors to think about the main problems/issues regarding pure PLA and start the review regarding each aspect. It would make the manuscript much better.
3. The only figures provided within the manuscript only contains polymer structures, which is not very informative to the readers. The structure of the polymers used within the blends can be combined into a single figure and thus the readers can refer to it instead of seeing the structures everywhere.
4. Following on last point, the authors should deep into previous studies and cite relevant and interesting figures from previous studies to make this manuscript better.
5. Another potential idea of the structure would be rewrite the review paper according to the different areas of applications. This would be more interesting to the readers.
6. Since blend is the major topic of this manuscript. I would like to point out the importance of phase separation and phase segregation for polymer blends. Major differences among the different components may lead to phase separation is something well-known to the society. However, phase segregation cause by entropy is something cannot be ignored. According to previous studies: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.9b01801; https://doi.org/10.1021/ma00087a019; https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.1995.090331709; https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.8b02242. It would be better to consider the effect and include it into the discussion.

Author Response

Thank you for your critical comments. The authors tried to take into account the comments and improve the article.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript "Poly(lactic acid) Based Blends: a Comprehensive Review" has an actual subject of the research field.

This work includes an analysis of experimental works devoted to the developing mixtures based on poly(lactic acid) and other polymers.

The manuscript present some interesting and useful aspects about poly(lactic acid) based blends.

However, the general presentation and design of the work must upgraded.

A scheme or some representative images could increase the manuscript interest.

Some valuable references were lost.

A  comprehensive table with strong reference is welcome.

 

Author Response

Thank you for your critical comments. The authors tried to take into account the comments and improve the article.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

I appreciate the efforts and responses from the authors. However, there are still some problems/issues that need to be addressed:

1. Currently, it is relatively difficult for the authors to compare the different composites regarding this manuscript. I would suggest making a table with some of the major properties for the composites to give the readers a whole picture of them.

2. I appreciate the additional figures provided by the authors to improve the quality of the manuscript. However, I believe that some more informative and interesting figures from the references could have been added to the manuscript.

3. Meanwhile, I still highly suggest that the authors try to combine the figure illustrating the chemical structures into a single figure instead of several different ones.

4. I appreciate the discussion section added to the updated manuscript. However, the advantages and disadvantages are listed and discussed at the end of the manuscript. I do not think this is the best way to structure it. Instead, I would suggest having the discussion earlier and restructuring the following sections accordingly.

5. Meanwhile, the format of the citations seems inconsistent within the content of the manuscript. The font sizes are different throughout the manuscript.

Author Response

Thank you for the critical comments. 

All changes in the text are highlighted in yellow.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The revised manuscript "Poly(lactic acid) Based Blends: a Comprehensive Review" responds to all suggestions and recommendations.

This manuscript form can be considered for publish.

Rendering the chemical formulas in a unitary format and dimensions would be welcome.

 

Author Response

Thank you for the comments.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx