Rebuttal To: “On the Understanding of the Adsorption of 2-Phenylethanol on Polyurethane-Keratin Based Membranes” by Cordero-Soto et\u2009al. (Int. J. Chem. React. Eng. 2017, 15 (5), Article Number: 20170103)

Abstract

Recently, Cordero-Soto et al. (2017) published the paper entitled “On the understanding of the adsorption of 2-phenylethanol on polyurethane-keratin based membranes”. In the section 2.6 Adsorption kinetics, authors proposed the pseudo-first order equation and pseudo-second order equation without any citations. In 1898, Lagergren proposed the first order rate equation for the adsorption of ocalic acid and malonic acid onto charcoal (Lagergren 1898). In order to distinguish kinetics equation based on concentration of solution and adsorption capacity of solid, Lagergren’s first order rate equation has been firstly named pseudo-first order model since 1998 (Ho and McKay 1998a, 1998b). Details of Lagergren rate equation for adsorption reactions was published in 2004 (Ho 2004a). The pseudo-second order kinetic expression for the adsorption systems of divalent metal ions using sphagnum moss peat was presented by Ho in (1995) and this expression was also published in 1996 (Ho, Wase, and Forster 1996). A modified equation has been presented in 1998 to correct a mistake in the previous paper that was published in 1996 (Ho and McKay 1998a, 1998b). The pseudo-second order kinetic model has been used in numbers of adsorption systems in subsequent years (Ho 2004b). Furthermore an classic article entitled “pseudo-second order model for sorption processes” by Ho and McKay (1999) has been ranked top one in annual citations in Web of Science category of chemical engineering since 2008 Ho (2012) and also top one in total citations in Web of Science category of chemical engineering. A classic review of second-order models for adsorption systems gave more details (Ho 2006). It has been accepted that citing the original paper not only respects the work of the authors who presented a novel research idea but also discussed this idea in detail in the body of their paper Ho (2010). In my view, Cordero-Soto et al. (2017) should have cited the original paper for the pseudo-first and pseudo-second order kinetic models, and thereby provided greater accuracy and information details about the kinetic expression they employed (Ho 2014).