Optimisation of graphene grown from solid waste using CVD method

Abstract

This paper discusses the optimisation of graphene grown from solid waste products, particularly fruit cover plastic waste and oil palm fibre. It involved a method known as chemical vapour deposition, where a copper sheet was used as the substrate. L9 Taguchi arrays were created based on three parameters, namely, the type of gas, substrate temperature, and growth time. The Raman spectrum analysis was selected as the response, where the I2D/IG ratio was taken into consideration to determine the type of graphene that was produced (whether single-layered or multi-layered). Then, the optimum graphene coating synthesised was tested under a dry sliding test at different applied loads. According to the signal to noise ratio and analysis of variance, the optimum parameters for growing graphene were 90 min of growing time at a temperature of 1020 °C using only argon gas for fruit cover plastic waste, and 30 min of growing time at a temperature of 1000 °C using argon and hydrogen gas for oil palm fibre. An error of between 13 and 17% was observed between the experimental result and the predicted value. The tribological performance for both graphenes shows promising potentials as friction reduction materials with OPF coating are suggested as the best type of coating synthesised.