The Spontaneous Escape Behavior of Silver from Graphite-like Carbon Coatings and Its Effect on Corrosion Resistance

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The research article entitled “The spontaneous escape behavior of silver from graphite-like carbon coatings and its effect on the corrosion resistance” is having some interesting results. However, the authors have to focus some more in-depth analyses by showing some more results and discussion. I have observed the following points while reading the article.

Major Comments/recommendations:

1.      Mechanical behavior is missing. At least surface hardness of substrate and substrate with coatings may be carried out

2.      SEM analyses after corrosion test with EDAX analyses may be carried out.

3.      If possible, XPS after corrosion test may be also introduce. These three things may enrich the quality of present work

Other comments:

4.      In the abstract, the authors haven’t mentioned about the substrate materials details. It has to be addressed

5.      The abstract written in present form is like a general statement. Here, the authors are asked to specify some values of parameters which they have used in the abstract.

6.      For example, “other two parameters….”. Here, mentioned the name of parameters. In addition, some findings with root causes are to be incorporated in the abstract

7.      The introduction part is very week. Here, some more literature and elaborate discussion on other manufacturing methods are to be incorporated.

8.      In addition, the authors have mentioned about important of mechanical properties as main objectives. However, no results related to mechanical properties in the present manuscript. It has to be addressed

 

It is acceptable level

Author Response

Dear Reviewer:

The detailed reply has been attached.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The spontaneous escape behavior of silver from graphite-like carbon coatings and its effect on the corrosion resistance

Reviewer: The study investigated the effects of different deposition parameters on the spontaneous escape behavior of silver-doped graphite-like carbon (Ag-GLC) coatings and evaluated their corrosion resistance. The results indicated that silver escape occurred regardless of the preparation conditions, with deposition temperature being the only parameter significantly impacting corrosion resistance positively, while size, number, and distribution of escaped silver particles were influenced by all parameters. Some questions/comments must be addressed and correction made as follows:

 

1. Section Introduction, how does the shift from traditional graphite bipolar plates to thinner metallic ones affect the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), and what are the specific advantages of using metallic plates?

2. Section Introduction, what are the main challenges in designing functional coatings for metallic bipolar plates, such as 316L and aluminum alloys, and how do these coatings enhance electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance?

3. Section Introduction, could you provide more details on the studies that have explored the possibility of doping graphite-like carbon (GLC) coatings with metallic elements like Cr or Ag to increase electrical conductivity? How does this doping process work?

4. Subsection 3.1 mentions that "Wu et al. [18] reported similar trend that the hardness of the Ag-DLC nanocomposite coatings decreased when the silver concentration increased." However, upon reviewing the reference list, it appears that another author's work is cited instead. Please verify the correct reference for this statement.

5. On page 7, there is a reference to "Rosenfeld et al. [23]." However, upon cross-checking with the reference list, it seems that another author's work is listed instead. Please ensure the accuracy of the reference and correct it accordingly.

Minor editing of English language required

Author Response

Dear Reviewer:

The detailed reply has been attached.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have addressed all my comments and hence, I am recommending to accept the revised version