Graphite Content Identification with Laboratory and Field Spectral Induced Polarization Measurements

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Reviewer Comments:

This work is very interesting and of impact for natural resources characterization and properties. In particular for carbon sources.

The authors succed to present a new and alternative technique to characterize "natural" graphite.The results are clear and very well presented.

Author Response

We thank the Reviewer for reviewing our manuscript, "Graphite content identification with laboratory and field spectral induced polarization measurements." We sincerely appreciate the positive feedback and endorsement of our work.

The confirmation that our manuscript is well-structured and presented is highly encouraging. It motivates us to continue our research in this direction.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript titled “Graphite content identification with laboratory and field spectral induced polarization measurements” by Katona, T.; et al. is a scientific work where the authors devote spectral induced polarization assays to characterize materials and elicit the its graphite content. Many parameters like the grain size, the pH or the grain pore fluid salinity were taken into account. The manuscript is generally well-written and this is a topic of growing interest.

However, it exists some points that need to be addressed (please, see them below detailed point-by-point). The most relevant outcomes remarked by the authors can contribute in the growth of many fields like the development of more durable and green-friendly materials to take part in many processes where society can be benefited. For this reason, I will recommend the present scientific manuscript for further publication in Applied Sciences once all the below described suggestions will be properly fixed.

Here, there exists some points that must be covered in order to improve the scientific quality of the manuscript paper:

1) INTRODUCTION. “Graphite is an essential mineral used in batteries (…) or snow melting” (lines 27-30). Could the authors provide quantitative details about the worldwide consumption burdens of graphite? This will greatly benefit the potential readers to better understand the significance of this research.

 

2) “Different aspects limit the application at the field scale of the SIP method (…) also controls the polarization responses (lines 38-73)”. What is the sensitivity of this technique to unequivocally discern graphite respecting to other carbon-based materials? Some information should be added according to this point.

 

3) Finally, some lines should be also implemented in this section to ouline the existence of other techniques to detect electromagnetic field [1] or conductive [2] signals and how the technology used by the authors is capable to overcome certain limitations as the development of complex calibration calibration steps or the high-sensitivity to detect external noise signals which could negatively affect to the interpretation of the conductivity data of the examined materials.

[1] Winkler, R.; et al. A Review of the Current State of Magnetic Force Microscopy to Unravel the Magnetic Properties of Nanomaterials Applied in Biological Systems and Future Directions for Quantum Technologies. Nanomaterials 2023, 13, 2585. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13182585.

[2] Elson, L.; et al. Detection and Characterisation of Conductive Objects Using Electromagnetic Induction and a Fluxgate Magnetometer. Sensors 2022, 22, 5934. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22165934.

 

4) MATERIALS & METHODS. “It is based (…) two electrodes are used to inject current (…) and another pair of electrodes is used to measure the resulting voltage” (lines 120-122). Some further insights should be detailed about the extension of applied current and subsequent voltage detection.

 

5) Table 1 (line 185). Column P2. “SIP (Hz) 0-1-225”. Please, the authors should fix this issue by substituting the first hyphen by a point.

 

6) RESULTS & DISCUSSION. “Such low voltage readings (…) resulting in low signal-to noise ratios” (lines 289-290). What is the detection limit threshold observed by the authors? Could the anisotropy properties of graphite materials negatively affect to its detection?

 

7) Figure 7 (line 538). What is the range of the related standard deviation observed for the conductivity measurements? Same comment for the Fig. 8 (line 556) and Fig. 9 (line 587).

 

8) CONCLUSIONS. The main outcomes found in this work are clearly outlined in this section. The authors should consider to add some potential future action lines to pursue the research in this topic.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The manuscript is generally well-written albeit it may be convenient if the authors could recheck it in order to polish those final details susceptible to be improved.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 

The authors present combined laboratory and field section profiling  results and use well defined models to interpret them. The overall prsentation is very good and informative. I have a few minor comments: a. Clarify the definition of the term "quadrature". b. Try "quality of fit" instead of "godness of fit".

Author Response

We thank the Reviewer for reviewing our manuscript, "Graphite content identification with laboratory and field spectral induced polarization measurements." We sincerely appreciate the positive feedback and endorsement of our work.

The confirmation that our manuscript is well-structured and presented is highly encouraging.

We have carefully considered the feedback and have addressed them as follows:

a, "goodness of fit": We changed "goodness of fit" to "quality of fit" as suggested. This adjustment will enhance the clarity and precision of our terminology, ensuring a better understanding for our readers.

b, "quadrature": The clarification of the term "quadrature" is presented in the manuscript (at line 142). "The complex conductivity (σ*) - ... – can be expressed in terms of its real (or in-phase, σ’) and imaginary (or quadrature, σ’’) components." Additionally, we want to highlight that "quadrature" is a well-established term commonly used in geophysical literature.