Upcycling Waste Lard Oil into Vertical Graphene Sheets by Inductively Coupled Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition.

Xiaodong Li,Jian Yang,Jianhua Yan,Wangjun Shen,Angjian Wu,Changming Du

doi:10.3390/nano7100318

Xiaodong Li, Jian Yang + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nano7100318

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Abstract

Vertical graphene (VG) sheets were single-step synthesized via inductively coupled plasma (ICP)-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using waste lard oil as a sustainable and economical carbon source. Interweaved few-layer VG sheets, H2, and other hydrocarbon gases were obtained after the decomposition of waste lard oil. The influence of parameters such as temperature, gas proportion, ICP power was investigated to tune the nanostructures of obtained VG, which indicated that a proper temperature and H2 concentration was indispensable for the synthesis of VG sheets. Rich defects of VG were formed with a high ratio (1.29), consistent with the dense edges structure observed in electron microscopy. Additionally, the morphologies, crystalline degree, and wettability of nanostructure carbon induced by PECVD and ICP separately were comparatively analyzed. The present work demonstrated the potential of our PECVD recipe to synthesize VG from abundant natural waste oil, which paved the way to upgrade the low-value hydrocarbons into advanced carbon material.

Highlights

Benefiting from its fascinating mechanical, electrical, optical, and thermal properties, graphene with a two-dimensional honeycomb-like framework emerges as a promising alternative to initiate a new material revolution [1]
We firstly propose the use of waste lard oil as carbon donor for a one-step synthesis of Vertical graphene (VG) sheets using inductively coupled plasma (ICP)-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD)
Waste lard oil sourced from catering and daily home cooking exhibited its potential as a green and cheap carbon precursor to synthesize VG using ICP-PECVD

Summary

Introduction

Benefiting from its fascinating mechanical, electrical, optical, and thermal properties, graphene with a two-dimensional honeycomb-like framework emerges as a promising alternative to initiate a new material revolution [1]. Pei et al reviewed the state-of-the-art status of GO reduction on both techniques and mechanisms, and discussed the effects of different reduction processes on the properties of reduced GO [8] These methods are restrictive with the consideration of precursor specification, high processing temperature, heavy energy consumption, and the use of hazardous chemicals [9]. Among the various non-thermal plasma sources (e.g., gliding arc plasma, glow plasma, microwave plasma, etc.), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) is proposed to realize a controllable vertical graphene (VG) synthesis in the present work. We firstly propose the use of waste lard oil as carbon donor for a one-step synthesis of VG sheets using inductively coupled plasma (ICP)-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).

Materials and Methods

SEM images of VG sheets generated by PECVD at temperature

Conclusions

Materials and methods