Synthesis of graphene oxide from agricultural waste

Abstract

Agricultural waste products are very rich in carbon and can be used to produce materials which have significant importance both scientifically and commercially. This study is aimed at producing graphene oxide from agricultural waste using groundnut and almond shells as starting materials. Hummer’s method was adopted with some modifications which involved carbonizing, conversion of carbonized products to graphite and conversion of graphite to graphene oxide. The produced graphene oxide powder was characterized using FTIR and XRD. The FTIR results for the determination of functional group showed peaks at 3407 cm-1 and 1712 cm-1 (from groundnut shell) and peaks at 3457 cm-1 and 1712 cm-1 (almond shell) corresponding to hydroxyl and carbonyl groups respectively which indicates proper oxidation. The XRD result showed two peaks for both samples at 2θ. The percentage yield of graphene oxide from groundnut shell (11.5%) is less than the percentage yield of graphene oxide from almond shell (42.5%). The high yield production of graphene oxide, from almond shell is a better raw material than that from groundnut shell. Graphene oxide from almond shell is more crystalline and gives sharper peaks compared to that from groundnut shell. The method used in this work for the production of graphene oxide supported the use of almond shell better than groundnut shell. Large scale production of more purified form of this useful material should be looked into using agricultural waste.

Key words: Graphene; groundnut shell; carbonization; almond shell; characterization