Effect of ZnCl₂ on properties of graphene produced from palm empty fruit bunch

The production of palm oil in Indonesia is increasing every year. Along with the increase in production, the waste generated by the palm oil mill is also increasing. Waste from the production of palm oil can be used as raw material for high value-added products such as graphene. Graphene is the two dimensional hexagonal lattice of sp2 carbon atoms. Due to its excellent electrical conductivity and high theoretical surface area, graphene has very promising applications in nanoelectronics components including transistors, lithium ion batteries and supercapacitor. This study aims to characterize the effect of activating agent ZnCl₂: biomass ratio on the structure and properties of graphene production from palm oil waste with catalyst FeCl₃ via two-stage pyrolysis. Experiment results showed that surface properties of graphene sheets depend on the ZnCl₂: biomass ratio. The effective surface area increased with increasing ZnCl₂: biomass ratio. Graphene sheets shows favourable features such as nanosheet frameworks (2-4 atomic layers), graphite-like interlayer spacing (0.3380 nm) and also high crystalline degree (I_G/I_D = 9.35).