Effect of hydrogen on graphene growth from solid waste products by chemical vapour deposition: friction coefficient properties

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of hydrogen (H2) gas on the graphene growth from fruit cover plastic waste (FCPW) and oil palm fibre (OPF), as a solid feedstock, towards the coefficient of friction (COF) properties. Design/methodology/approach Graphene film growth on copper (Cu) substrate was synthesised from FCPW and OPF, as a solid feedstock, using the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method, at atmospheric pressure. The synthesised graphene was characterised using Raman spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Electron Dispersed Spectroscopy (EDS). Surface hardness and roughness were measured using a nano-indenter and surface profilometer, respectively. Then, a dry sliding test was executed using a ball-on-disc tribometer at constant speed, sliding distance and load, with coated and uncoated copper sheet as the counter surface. Findings The presence of H2 gas reduced the running-in time of the dry sliding test. However, there is no significant effect at the constant COF region, where the graphene growth from FCPW shows the lowest COF among other surfaces. Research limitations/implications This paper is limited to graphene growth using the CVD method with selected parameters. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper on growing graphene from palm oil fiber via the CVD method and its subsequent analysis, based on friction coefficient properties.