Cooking oil waste from AYAMAS as a carbon source in forming multilayer graphene films

Abstract

ABSTRACT Industrial oil waste has become a novel carbon source for graphene due to its carbon-rich and renewable nature. A new approach was proposed to produce multilayer graphene from waste industrial cooking oil (WICO) sourced from project collaborators, the AYAMAS Food Corporation Sdn Bhd. Graphene was synthesized from WICO through a double thermal chemical vapor deposition (DT-CVD) method. Nickel foil was used as a substrate to initiate the process. The amount of WICO added was varied by 10 µL increments, ranging from 10 to 50 µL. The precursor and deposition temperatures were fixed at 350°C and 1000°C, respectively. Eventually, precipitation and segregation resulted in the formation of graphene. Raman spectroscopy analysis of the graphene obtained revealed an I2D/IG ratio of less than 0.5, indicating its multilayered nature. Besides, it has 4 graphene layers by calculating the number of atomic layers. This finding was further supported by outcomes shown through Ultraviolet – visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, where sharp peaks of 30 µL and 40 µL were observed at 250 nm. Finally, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) representative images demonstrated an inverse relationship between layer numbers and surface roughness in high-WICO graphene, where a gain in layers smoothened rather than roughened its appearance. Multilayer graphene has high conductivity and a wide bandgap. These properties are applicable in electrical and thermal applications. Through a method known as DT-CVD, it was achievable to successfully produce multilayer graphene by using the usage of AYAMAS, which is usage from the frying oil industry, as a carbon source.