Promising Porous Carbon Material Derived from Argan Paste Cake by KOH Activation, for Paracetamol Removal

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript is interesting but written with some gaps. It can be considered after major revision. Consider resubmission. Some hints for authors.

1.     Unfinished statements in lines 69-71. Please extend.

2.     Regression error only for kinetic analysis not for all research sections

3.     Fraction part should be separated by a point, not by coma in Table 1.

4.     Please write more about Argan paste cake formation is this waste material?

5.     Is an Argan paste sustainable material not requiring much water or deforestation? Is argan tree cultivation a good option to prevent dessert from extending?

6.     What is the potential of use are crops high?

7.     Please write in the introduction also the importance of the removal of painkillers residue removal due to their dangers to the environment for example hazard to vultures.?

Coma should be instead of points.

Author Response

Please find attached the answers.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Review Report

Manuscript ID: processes-2478786

Title: Promising porous carbon material derived from Argan paste cake by KOH activation, for Paracetamol removal

This is a rather interesting study focusing on the preparation and characterization of activated carbon derived from Argan paste cake utilizing KOH as the activation agent with a ratio of 1:1 followed by activation at 800 °C. The adsorption capacity of the obtained sample was compared with commercially available granular activated carbon. Various techniques were applied in characterization: BET, XRD (X-ray diffraction), and SEM. The result obtained implies the potential application of the prepared sample.

Reviewer’s Suggestions

Lines 22, 23. Instead of "degrees Celsius" it should be °C.

Line 32. Authors have to pay attention to the significant number of decimal places.

Line 35. There is no need to mention 1937 m2/g again.

Lines 69, 70. Something is wrong with these small sentences. Authors have to rewrite these sentences into ones with meaningful content.

Line 92. Instead of “Granular and powdered activated carbons (GAC), (PAC) they Currently represent …" it should be Currently, granular and powdered activated carbons (GAC and PAC) represent ….

Line 111 Is it a full stop or comma?

Line 138. Instead “with 300 ◦C" it should be at 300 ◦C, and a full stop is missing at the end of this sentence.

Line 139 Is there some particular reason why the KOH: argan paste cake ratio is 1:1?

Lines 167 and 169. Authors have to decide whether capital L or small l or ml will be used in the manuscript. (this is just an example)

Lines 179,180. Relevant references should support equations 1 and 2.

Lines 189,190. Table 1 and Figure 1, Figure 4, Figure 9. It should be a full stop instead of a comma.

Lines 193,194. A poorly written sentence, somewhere in the middle there is a capital T, and again authors like to repeat the specific surface area which is mentioned two rows before.

Line 201. The Micropores with small m.

Figure 2. Diffraction peaks can be hardly observed. Why? I would expect more sharp representation. When observing a peak at a smaller 2Q, it doesn’t seem to be at 25.56°. Please check it.   

Line 217. " The strong diffraction peak at 2θ = 25.56° corresponds …" Is it strong?

The authors have to refer to some relevant references concerning (002) and (100) graphitic planes.

Figure 3a. This figure is too pale if compare with Figure 3b. In order to compare the morphology of these figures I would expect the same sharpness. Pretty much don’t understand what has happened with the resolution of Figure 3a.

 

Lines 335-338. Relevant references should support equations 3-6. This also stands for equations 7-10.

Author Response

Please find attached the answers. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Authors responding outstandingly to my comments.

Thank You very much for your cooperation.

There should be corrected typos like Cu-

Kα instead Cu

Kα

inst

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf