Effects of NaOH/H2O2/Na2SiO3 Bleaching Pretreatment Method on Wood Dyeing Properties
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The topic of the paper is interesting and fits the scopes of the Journal. Nevertheless, the manuscript requires some extra efforts to improve its quality and presentation. After a careful revision, a set of comments are given below.
The corresponding author must be indicated with an asterisk.
The first section is the Introduction and must be numbered as 1. So the second section would be Materials and methods. As it is evident, the rest of sections must be renumbered accordingly.
The last paragraph of the Introduction is commonly devoted to indicate the structure of the rest of the manuscript. This is a common practice in scientific papers and it is strongly suggested to do in this case.
In the subsection 1.2, the conducted steps could be illustrated by means of a flowchart or block diagram. This would enhance the description of the research as well as the presentation of the paper.
A photograph of the experimental framework would enrich the paper.
The novelties and contribution of the reported research to the body of knowledge needs to be highlighted once the Micro-analysis is conducted. For example, in a new subsection or section devoted to discuss the achieved results. In addition, the main limitations of the work should also be placed within this discussion section.
The Conclusions section should include some future guideline that the authors identify as relevant and subsequent of the reported work.
The format of references must be revised according to the template of the journal.
Sections like Conflicts of Interests, Funding, Author contributions, etc. must be included if they appear in the template.
Author Response
Dear reviewer
Many thanks for your valuable comments, we have revised this manuscript as you suggested. Please see the revised manuscript and reponses.
Yours
Xianqing Xiong
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Authors,
Authors deal with interesting and actual which refers to investigates the effect of bleaching pretreatment on subsequent dyeing properties of wood, including color depth value of surface, dyeing rate, dyeing velocity and microscopic analysis on three substrates and three dyestuffs. In my opinion this study is of practical significance for analyzing the dyeing properties and is of positive significance for the long-term development of the wood dyeing industry.
While reading the submitted manuscript, several questions arose and inaccuracies were also noticed, which I recommend to fix.
1. In my opinion, the introduction is too short and not supported by literature
2. The purpose of the study should be clearly stated at the end of the introduction, preferably with hypotheses tested. The text in finish of introduction is vague and does not reflect the content of the study, in my opinion.
3. Information about the consecutively quoted drawings is not included in the text.
4. Are table were made in accordance with the guidelines for authors? Attention it concerns the size of the descriptions.
5. You should have separate section results and separate discussion section.
6. Check in manuscript the typos and spaces, and put spaces everywhere between the value and the unit.
7. The discussion lacks comparison of own research to literature
Finally, the article needs a thorough review in English, both for typos, syntax and form of the English language, perhaps considering having it reread by a native speaker. In my opinion a lot of aspects must be revised before the acceptation for this Journal.
Author Response
Dear reviewer
Many thanks for your valuable comments, we have revised this manuscript as you suggested. Please see the revised manuscript and reponses.
Yours
Xianqing Xiong
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The work touches on an interesting issue related to the refinement of wood surfaces and increasing the attractiveness of wood. What I found missing from the literature review was information on the importance of wood in interior decoration and information on the most commonly used wood finishing methods (varnishing, French polish, thermal modification). The importance of the application of these methods and examples of their use.
Figures 3,4,5,7 are not discussed in the text. The analysis presented lacks statistical treatment of the results obtained (for example, an ANOVA test).
Author Response
Dear reviewer
Many thanks for your valuable comments, we have revised this manuscript as you suggested. Please see the revised manuscript and reponses.
Yours
Xianqing Xiong
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors have made the corrections I suggested. In my opinion, the article in this version is suitable for publication.
I encourage the authors to continue working on this topic.
Thank you for considering my opinion.
Author Response
Dear reviewer
Many thanks for your kind work and valuable suggestions.
Best wishes
Xianqing Xiong
Reviewer 3 Report
I am pleased that the authors have responded to my comments. Unfortunately, I believe that part of the text needs to be restructured and expanded (especially the literature review), I would personally add some statistical information on the volume of wood production and bleached species in relation to the total production, indicate the most important species that are subject to such a process and where they find use.
Verse 33 (The wood...) when it comes to the varieties used for interior decoration depend largely on the area from which they originate. Temperate climate tree species are not hardy in plantation form and the most interesting species are not fast-growing varieties (ebony, oak, ash, elm, etc.). These species are not classified as softwoods and fast-growing species in addition, they are species that are difficult to stain due to their anatomical characteristics and chemical structure. In addition, bleaching wood will not be as popular as varnishing its surface to bring out the depth of its grain. It is one type of wood staining (along with staining or darkening to a darker colour).
Please indicate the origin of figure 2 (figure 1 appears to be a composite of the authors from drawings available on the web but if there is other material also indicate its origin).
Additionally, Figures 5 and 6 are not discussed in the body of the paper. What is the point of their presentation?
Author Response
Dear reviewer
Many thanks for your valuable comments, we have revised this manuscript as you suggested. Please see the revised manuscript and reponses.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
