Bio-graphene production from oil palm shell waste valorised through sequential thermal and catalytic means

Abstract

Cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin made up a large majority of biomass in the world. These three organic polymers can produce bio-gas such as methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) which are necessary for bio-graphene fabrication. Carbon layer deposition depends on CH4 while the uniformity and porosity of the carbon layer depend on CO2 and activation agent interaction. By altering the Oil Palm Shell (OPS) biomass precursor through pyrolysis, the remaining content of biomass precursors will enhance bio-graphene development through Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process. The alteration of these biomass precursors is made through thermal manipulation at temperatures of 200 ∘C, 400 ∘C and 600 ∘C. The best thermal means will produce bio-graphene encompassing observable crystallinity, appropriate exfoliation, low defect, high carbon and low oxygen value which possess characteristics that are similar to bio-graphene fabricated from the past years. The different pre-treated biomass through pyrolysis are characterized using proximate analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Micro-Raman. Additionally, the different bio-graphene samples fabricated from pre-treated biomass precursors were identified and characterized using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Ultra-high Resolution Scanning Electron Microscope (U-SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Micro-Raman spectrometer.