Photocatalytic Application of Polymers in Removing Pharmaceuticals from Water: A Comprehensive Review

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This review is well written and organized, providing readers with important information. However, I have a few recommendations for authors before the article is accepted for publication:

 

1) address adsorption mechanisms in more depth, as polymeric materials can promote significant removal by this process:

 

2) It is important to provide information on the ability of these materials to interact with the transformation products produced in photocatalytic degradation.

 

Consider some works: 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.115054

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05312-z

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2022.109207

Comments on the Quality of English Language

ok

Author Response

Journal Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344)

Manuscript ID catalysts-3060277

Title: Photocatalytic application of polymers in removing pharmaceuticals from water: a comprehensive review

 

Special Issue Advanced Catalytic Materials and Processes for Water/Wastewater Treatment

 

The reviewers' comments are typed in black, and the responses to them are tagged in blue. The line numbers in the responses to reviewers refer to the corrected text.

 

Response Reviewer 1:

This review is well written and organized, providing readers with important information. However, I have a few recommendations for authors before the article is accepted for publication:

We thank the reviewer for the suggestions and the opportunity to improve our manuscript.

• address adsorption mechanisms in more depth, as polymeric materials can promote significant removal by this process:

Thank you for your suggestion. We addressed the adsorption mechanisms of polymeric materials more in depth in Chapter 3 (Lines 684-697). Also, in the literature, we added references (216-221).

• It is important to provide information on the ability of these materials to interact with the transformation products produced in photocatalytic degradation.

Consider some works: 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.115054

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05312-z

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2022.109207

We considered your suggestion and provided information on the ability of these materials to interact with the transformation products produced in photocatalytic degradation (Lines 93-108). We also added recommended references (47-49) to the literature.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

On the page 2 the authors are written "Since the number of research studies regarding the efficiency of polymers has expanded in recent years, there is a need for a more comprehensive review of polymers as a promising sustainable material for photocatalytic applications in water treatment."

From what reference more comprehensive review?  

Is the authors have permission to reproduce all figures in the review?

The authors should be discussed in the section inorganic polymers on the page 5 the different types of inorganic polimers and references.

On the page 21, row 795 have to be TiO₂

On the page 10 The text from row 384 to 399 is not discussed on the appropriate place in the review.

Figures 4-8 have not cited references. Why?

Why after the rows are not cited references:?

554-574

578-588

636-670

681-686

695-703

706-714

722-749

799-805

 

Author Response

Journal Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344)

Manuscript ID catalysts-3060277

Title: Photocatalytic application of polymers in removing pharmaceuticals from water: a comprehensive review

 

Special Issue Advanced Catalytic Materials and Processes for Water/Wastewater Treatment

 

The reviewers' comments are typed in black, and the responses to them are tagged in blue. The line numbers in the responses to reviewers refer to the corrected text.

 

Response Reviewer 2:

 

• On the page 2 the authors are written "Since the number of research studies regarding the efficiency of polymers has expanded in recent years, there is a need for a more comprehensive review of polymers as a promising sustainable material for photocatalytic applications in water treatment."

From what reference more comprehensive review?

Thank you very much for noticing that. We added (Line 56) appropriate references (20, 21).

• Is the authors have permission to reproduce all figures in the review?

Yes, we have copyright permission for all figures that have been taken and modified from other articles. We also prepared Figures 4-8 based on the text, which were not taken from other works.

• The authors should be discussed in the section inorganic polymers on the page 5 the different types of inorganic polimers and references.

We accepted your suggestion and discussed the section inorganic polymers, adding different types of inorganic polymers (Lines 267-301). Also, in the literature, we added references (113-116).

• On the page 21, row 795 have to be TiO2

Thank you very much for noticing this. We corrected it in TiO₂ (Line 948).

• On the page 10 The text from row 384 to 399 is not discussed on the appropriate place in the review.

We considered your suggestion and moved lines 384-399 in Chapter 3 (Lines 581-600).

• Figures 4-8 have not cited references. Why?

Figures 4-8 do not have cited references since the authors made these Figures. They were not taken from other Articles.

• Why after the rows 554-574, 578-588, 636-670, 681-686, 695-703, 706-714, 722-749, 799-805 are not cited references?

Thank you very much for noticing this. We added appropriate references.

554-574

Now, lines: 707-712. We added reference 228.

578-588

Now, lines 731-741. We added reference 229.

636-670

Now, lines 789-795. We added references 243 and 247.

681-686

Now, lines 834-839. We added reference 253.

695-703

Now, lines 847-856. We added references 257 and 258.

706-714

Now, lines 857-867. We added reference 267 and 268.

722-749

Now, lines 875-881. We added reference 271.

799-805

Now, lines 952-958. We added reference 286.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This review encompasses recent progress in utilizing various polymers and their modifications as photocatalysts for pharmaceutical contaminant removal from water, emphasizing their dual role in enhancing water purification efficiency. The writing of this manuscript after major improvement should be also acceptable. I think the authors should seriously consider the following concerns.

1. The fact that polymers are rarely used directly with water in the form of powders, but more in the form of membranes, foams, surface loads, etc., needs to be pointed out and discussed in detail.

2. The authors need to compare polymer photocatalysts with other inorganic nano-photocatalysts, because inorganic nano-photocatalysts are still the mainstream in this field.

3. How many papers are related to this field? The author needs to supplement the quantitative analysis of the literature

4. There are various ways to remove pollutants, such as photocatalysis, adsorption, retention, etc. If the author focuses on photocatalysis, it is necessary to discuss its photocatalytic mechanism in more detail and summarize the ways to improve the photocatalytic performance of polymers, such as the construction of heterogeneous structures.

5. Some important references in this field need to be cited. Like Desalination, 117280；Chemical Engineering Journal 435, 134804；Water Research, 2023, 229: 119456；Journal of Membrane Science, 2021, 623: 119080.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

acceptable

Author Response

Journal Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344)

Manuscript ID catalysts-3060277

Title: Photocatalytic application of polymers in removing pharmaceuticals from water: a comprehensive review

 

Special Issue Advanced Catalytic Materials and Processes for Water/Wastewater Treatment

 

The reviewers' comments are typed in black, and the responses to them are tagged in blue. The line numbers in the responses to reviewers refer to the corrected text.

 

Response Reviewer 3:

 

This review encompasses recent progress in utilizing various polymers and their modifications as photocatalysts for pharmaceutical contaminant removal from water, emphasizing their dual role in enhancing water purification efficiency. The writing of this manuscript after major improvement should be also acceptable. I think the authors should seriously consider the following concerns.

We thank the reviewer for the suggestions and the opportunity to improve our manuscript.

 

• The fact that polymers are rarely used directly with water in the form of powders, but more in the form of membranes, foams, surface loads, etc., needs to be pointed out and discussed in detail.

We considered your suggestion and discussed polymer powders, membranes, foams, and surfaces in detail (Lines 186-222). Also, in the literature, we added references (92-99).

• The authors need to compare polymer photocatalysts with other inorganic nano-photocatalysts, because inorganic nano-photocatalysts are still the mainstream in this field.

We considered your suggestion and compared polymer photocatalysts with other inorganic nano-photocatalysts (Lines 142-174). Also, in the literature, we added references (82-87).

• How many papers are related to this field? The author needs to supplement the quantitative analysis of the literature

Tables 2 and 3 have been revised to include some papers related to the use of polymer materials for the photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceuticals. Lines 606-609 with quantitative data were also added, information from SCOPUS.

• There are various ways to remove pollutants, such as photocatalysis, adsorption, retention, etc. If the author focuses on photocatalysis, it is necessary to discuss its photocatalytic mechanism in more detail and summarize the ways to improve the photocatalytic performance of polymers, such as the construction of heterogeneous structures.

We considered your suggestion and discussed the photocatalytic mechanism in more detail (Lines 569-600). We also summarize the ways to improve the photocatalytic performance of heterogeneous polymer structures (Lines 970-989). Also, in the literature, we added references (81, 105, 191-194, 288-290).

• Some important references in this field need to be cited. Like Desalination, 117280；Chemical Engineering Journal 435, 134804；Water Research, 2023, 229: 119456；Journal of Membrane Science, 2021, 623: 119080.

We cited suggested references (24, 93-95) in the appropriate parts of the Manuscript.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Acept in the present form