Graphene Oxide Production Via Exfoliation Process of Low-Temperature Synthetic Graphite from Oil Palm Trunk Waste

The exfoliation process via the modified Hummers’ method has been well established as the main method to produce graphene oxide. Previously, however, the process only involved commercial graphite as a precursor material for the production of graphene oxide. In this study, synthetic graphite has been successfully produced using oil palm trunk waste as potential carbon sources. Different values of the heating parameter, i.e, 500, 800, and 1000^◦C, have been applied. The heating also varied from 5 to 10^◦/min and to 20^◦/min to control the heating condition. After heating treatment, the samples were characterised using X-ray diffraction and analysed by X’Pert HighScore Plus software. The graphite nature of the synthetic graphite produced was additionally supported by Raman analysis. Morphological study was carried out using a scanning electron microscope. Based on the analysis, the optimum processing parameters were found, namely the temperature of 800^◦C and the heating rate of 20^◦/min. The as-produced synthetic graphite was then subjected to further exfoliation to form graphene oxide via the modification of Hummers’ method. The graphene oxide produced was then characterised to confirm its graphitic nature.