Production of Low Temperature Synthetic Graphite

Abstract

Synthetic graphite is a material consisting of graphitic carbon which has been obtained by graphitizing a non-graphitic carbon. The growth in demand, particularly in customizing properties for certain usage has brought about research on viable alternative, low-cost, and environmentally pleasant synthetic graphite production. Biomass wastes are amongst appealing carbon precursors which have been broadly checked out as replacement carbon for graphite production. This research aimed to synthesize synthetic graphite from oil palm trunks at low temperatures (500 °C, 400 °C and 300 °C) under controlled conditions to determine the physical properties and properties of the graphite obtained. After the heat treatment process, the obtained samples were then characterized by using XRD, SEM and RAMAN characterizations. Based on SEM and RAMAN characterization, it can be seen that graphite that undergoes a 500 °C pyrolysis process shows the best results compare to graphite that undergoes a pyrolysis process at the temperatures of 300 °C and 400 °C. The graphite flakes and the peaks obtained for 500 °C graphite are obviously present. For XRD characterization, the best samples at 500 °C were chosen to be characterized. From the results, the sample shows slight behavior imitating the commercialized graphite. Hence, from the characterizations of the samples, it can be concluded that the best synthetic graphite produced was from the oil palm trunks heated at 500 ° C.