Sorption Behaviour of Ibuprofen Using Activated Carbon Derived from Rose Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L.) Leaves

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments on the manuscript entitled “Sorption Behaviour of Ibuprofen Using Activated Carbon Derived From Rose Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L.) leaves” by Patience Mapule Thabede et al. (applsci-2216340).

GENERAL COMMENT

The authors will have to make it clear in their response and the revised paper what the novelty of this work is as compared to the state of the art in the literature of other adsorption systems. This must include text related to either: 1) a novel material that has distinct advantages with respect to selectivity or capacity, 2) a novel theoretical treatment, and/or 3) an application that has not been addressed to date. It is not sufficient to describe another adsorbent for another "standard application". Whatever the advantage of the adsorbent material is (capacity, selectivity, etc.) must be backed up with comparison data with the state of the art in the literature.

 Other remarks

(1) How is the reproducibility of the samples?.

(2) As the authors do not give details of the error in the experiments, it is not possible to know if the differences observed are significant or not; Could give the accuracy of your figures 5 to 9?.

(3) What is the BET surface area? This parameter is necessary in any adsorption process. In addition it would be necessary to determine the pore size distribution to determine what type of activated carbon it is. If it is micro, or mesoporous and the percentage of micro and mesoporosity of the material.

(4) It should determine the mechanism by which the adsorption process takes place. Also, what is the zeta potential of the material?

(5) I recommend a full revision of the language in order to avoid further editorial work.

 The manuscript needs extensive revision and substantial improvement before it can be published.

Author Response

Please find the attached document for Reviewer 1

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This manuscript studied the adsorption behaviour of of ibuprofen was by using rose geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L.) leaves derived carbon. The following issues should be considered:

1. The authors should take care of the unit, such as mg/L or mg/l.

2. The stand curve of the UV-visible absorption of the Ibuprofen solution should be provided.

3. What about the productivity of the activated carbon?

4. What about the structure of the carbon after reused? Is it stable for the adsoption?

5. How to perform the regeneration study? Please provide the detail.

6. Some important studies should be mentioned:  Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2020, 59: 15454-15463.;Chemical Engineering Journal, 2018, 349: 1-16.;  Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2019, 96: 229-242.

 

 

 

Author Response

Please see the attached document for Reviewer 2

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have made the corrections suggested in the manuscript. The manuscript is now of the required quality to be published in Applied Sciences.