The Construction of an α-F2O3/Tubular g-C3N4 Z-Scheme Heterojunction Catalyst for the Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The authors of this paper have developed a composite photocatalyst known as α-F2O3/tubular g-C3N4 (FO-TCN) designed for the degradation of TC contaminants. Although the authors have undertaken an appropriate research endeavor, effectively presenting their findings through a comprehensive array of experiments, nevertheless, it is advisable for the authors to carefully consider some concerns as follows before advancing this work for reconsideration.
Comments:
1. Introduction must be strengthened by adding previous work showing the positive effect of surface area on the enhancing photocatalytic activities
2. The novelty of the present study should be highlighted more clearly. Why was this particular composite selected among the various high surface area materials available, such as COF, PPN, and MOFs?
3. What is the temperature of ultrasonic bath during the CN synthesis?
4. For fabrication of TCN, what was the washing solvent? And how much it was used for washing? Explain the synthesis procedure in more detail
5. Why UV irradiation has been employed while the band gaps are in the range of visible light? Comparative experiments should be implemented
6. Why was UV irradiation employed when the band gaps fall within the range of visible light? Comparative experiments should be conducted
7. The band gap energies of FO-CN and FO-TCN samples are closely aligned, with FO-CN exhibiting a slightly lower energy level. What could be the reason for this observation?
8. Define all constants and parameters in equation 7 and 8
9. What values have been selected for Ee and X in all samples?
10. What’s the appropriate equation for calculating X ?
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you very much for all your suggestions, we improved our paper according to your comments one by one. Wish our revised paper can meet your high-level request now. Please see the attachment. Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Xueqiang Qi
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Dear Authors, this article is very important in the field of heterojunction catalyst for efficient photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline. There are some comments below about possible improvement related to following sections:
1. By the end of Introduction section it is stated that “Furthermore, to investigate the reason for the high photocatalytic performance and the reaction mechanism, radical trapping experiments were carried out.“ It is required that more details on the novelty of this experiment can be provided in final statement.
2. Results and discussion section suddenly started with Figures and some explanation is missing in the first lines.
3. It is more comprehensible to divide Figures 2 in different figures for SEM photos and separately for obtained graphics.
4. Following explanation is not provided in detail for Figure 5f and some places in text not related for mentioned figures.
5. By the end of conclusion section, it is required to recommend some practical use of investigated methods for e.g., in pharmaceuticals removal from wastewater etc.
6. The are luck of references from other countries scientific research related to the same or similar topic.
Sincerely, Reviewer.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you very much for all your suggestions, we improved our paper according to all your comments. Wish our revised paper can meet your high-level request now. Please see the attachment. Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Xueqiang Qi
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Dear Editor
The authors have thoroughly addressed all comments from the reviewers. Therefore, I believe the manuscript is now ready for acceptance in its current form
Author Response
Thank you so much for all your good suggestions.
