Plasma Enhanced Fluorine-Free Superhydrophobic Polyester (PET) Fabric with Ultra-Robust Antibacterial and Antibacterial Adhesion Properties

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript presented for review concerns the innovative plasma enhanced fluorine-free superhydrophobic polyester (PET) fabric. The antimicrobial properties of these materials have been proven, even after repeated washing.
I see a large use of such fabrics in medicine or the food industry, where microorganisms transmitted on clothing can cause infections of patients or a series of food products, and indirectly of consumers.
The manuscript is well planned and written.

Minor remarks that could improve the manuscript
1. line 136, 137 - no space in front of the parenthesis
2. line 143-144 - bacterial names should be in italics
3. Point 2.4 - the methodology should be described in more detail
4. line 148 - superscripts are missing (eg 105 CFU), names must be in italics
5. line 151 - wrong degree symbol
6. Point 3.3 - the names of the bacteria must be in italics
7. It would be nice if the discussion of the results was increased a little.
8. The abstract coincides with the summary a bit too much, it would be worth rewriting the summary a bit.
9. The manuscript is not prepared in accordance with the standards of the publishing house - too large spaces between the lines.
10. You need to correct the references according to the journal requirements.

In the next research, I would suggest checking the anti-mold properties of pristine polyester (PET) fabric is immersed into the solution containing ZnO nanoparticle and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), as mold spores can also be transmitted on textiles.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

We gratefully appreciate for your valuable suggestion, and please see the attachment to get more imformation.

Thank you so much and best regards.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript presents interesting findings in the investigation of the superhydrophobic polyester fabric which possess antibacterial activity and anti-adhesive interaction with bacteria strains. The scientific content is clear, but some points require additional information:

• The first sentence of Abstract is confused and should be rewritten.
• In Experiments section no information about the type and cross-linking mechanism of polydimethylsiloxane is provided. Besides, main properties of PDMS, such as viscosity, etc., should be also provided. What is the zinc oxide nanoparticle size or size distribution? All of this is important for scientific accuracy and understanding of the coating formation and coated fabric properties.
• What is the accuracy of the wetting angle measurement?
• Line 219-220: The statement “ … SA of the fabric decreased 7.5° to and 37.5°” should be corrected.
• The mechanism of the antibacterial activity of PDMS@ZnO should be described.
• In Fig. 7, the WCA value on the pristine PET fabric is significantly higher compare to the data presented in Fig. 1a. Please, explain this discrepancy.
• Table 1: The wear properties of PET-PDMS@ZnO fabric should be compared with pristine PET fabric.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

We gratefully appreciate for your valuable suggestion, and please see the attachment to get more information.

Thank you so much and best regards.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

In this paper, the authors used plasma technology to prepare superhydrophobic antibacterial PET fabrics. The PET-PDMS@ZnO fabric displays superhydrophobic performances. In addition, the PET-PDMS@ZnO fabric shows good antibacterial adhesion properties. However, before publication in this journal, the authors must addressed the following major points:

• The English in the manuscript must be carefully revised. There are also many typing errors.
• In order to put in evidence the morphological properties of the samples and the ZnO nanoparticles dimensions, the authors must provide SEM images also at a much higher magnification such as 200 kx to give images with at least 100 nm scale. Additionally, the authors must provide these type of images also after the abrasion and washing tests taking into account that it is known that ZnO at the nanoscale can dissolve in water-based solution. The authors must introduce a discussion in to the manuscript regarding the dissolution of ZnO nanoparticles after the abrasion and washing tests in relation with reference Florica, C. et al., Sci Rep 9, 17268 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-53873-0.
• In Figure 1 (d), the authors must erase ZnO in the EDX spectrum because this technique cannot provide this type of information. Moreover, in order to prove the existence of the ZnO nanoparticles, the authors must provide XRD measurements before and after the abrasion and washing tests.
• In order to provide more information regarding the PET-PDMS@ZnO hybrid fabric structure, the authors must provide SEM images in cross-sectional view.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

We gratefully appreciate for your valuable suggestion, and please see the attachment to get more information.

Thank you so much and best regards.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper has been improved, no further comments.

Reviewer 2 Report

Thanks to the authors for making changes to the manuscript. The overall quality has improved and in my opinion the manuscript can be accepted for publication in Coatings.

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript can be accepted in the current form.