Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, Vol 26 No 5 (2022): 1112 - 1122

 

POLYMER-FREE TRANSFER OF GRAPHENE-BASED MATERIAL DERIVED FROM COOKING PALM OIL BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION TECHNIQUE

 

(Pemindahan Bebas Polimer bagi Bahan Berasaskan Grafin yang Disintesis dari Minyak Masak Kelapa Sawit Menggunakan Teknik Pemendapan Wap Kimia)

 

Azzafeerah Mahyuddin^1,2*, Abd. Khamim Ismail¹, Muhammad Firdaus Omar¹, Ainul Hakimah Karim³

 

¹Department of Physics,

Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor, Malaysia

²Department of Quality Engineering,

Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Institute of Industrial Technology,

Persiaran Sinaran Ilmu, Bandar Seri Alam, 81750 Johor, Malaysia.

³Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering,

Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Institute of Industrial Technology,

Persiaran Sinaran Ilmu, Bandar Seri Alam, 81750 Johor, Malaysia.

 

^*Corresponding author: azzafeerah@unikl.edu.my

 

 

Received: 17 December 2021; Accepted: 10 March 2022; Published:  30 October 2022

 

 

Abstract

Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of cooking palm oil precursors with a nickel (Ni) catalyst is an established method to produce graphene-based materials. Nonetheless, transferring the graphene sheets from the substrate surface to a selected target substrate presents a major challenge. The utilisation of well-known poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-assisted graphene transfer promotes defects, impurities, folds, and wrinkles in the graphene sheets, thus affecting its properties. Consequently, the present study demonstrated a polymer-free graphene sheets transfer technique on a Ni substrate derived from cooking palm oil. A dropwise hexane layer substituted the PMMA supporting layer during the etching process to remove the Ni substrate. The quality of the graphene sheet was investigated with optical microscopy by employing a Leica DM1750 M microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with a Hitachi S-3400N, and Raman spectroscopy utilising a UniDRON automated microscope Raman mapping system with 514 nm laser excitation. Resultantly, macroscopically clean and crack-free graphene sheets were was obtained. Furthermore, the technique was less complicated than the PMMA-assisted transfer technique. The Raman spectra of the polymer-free method also revealed visible graphene peaks, which was absent in the PMMA-transferred samples.

 

Keywords: graphene, chemical vapour deposition, polymer-free transfer

 

Abstrak

Kaedah pemendapan wap kimia (CVD) yang menggunakan minyak masak kelapa sawit sebagai prekursor serta nikel sebagai pemangkin dalam proses sintesis bahan berasaskan grafin merupakan teknik yang telah lama dikenali. Namun, cabaran utama dalam menggunakan teknik CVD ini ialah proses pemindahan helaian grafin dari permukaan substrat asal ke substrat baru. Salah satu kaedah pemindahan yang sering digunakan ialah kaedah pemindahan poli (metil-metakrilat) (PMMA) iaitu sejenis polimer yang akan menyebabkan helaian grafin mengalami kerosakan seperti kotor, berlipat dan berkedut. Oleh yang demikian, kajian ini akan menampilkan suatu teknik pemindahan grafin yang bebas polimer, disintesis di atas substrat nikel menggunakan minyak masak kelapa sawit. Lapisan heksana digunakan sebagai pengganti lapisan PMMA semasa proses penghakisan substrat nikel. Kualiti helaian grafin daripada hasil proses pemindahan ini dikaji menggunakan mikroskop optik (Leica DM1750 M), mikroskop pengimbasan elektron (SEM) dari Hitachi S-3400N dan spektroskopi Raman (system pemetaan mikroskop automatik Raman UniDRON dengan pengujaan laser 514 nm). Dapatan menunjukkan bahawa kaedah ini dapat menghasilkan helaian grafin yang bersih, tidak koyak serta pemprosesan yang tidak rumit berbanding teknik PMMA. Kaedah bebas polimer ini juga dapat menerbitkan puncak grafen menggunakan spektroskopi Raman berbanding kaedah pemindahan PMMA.

 

Kata kunci: grafin, kaedah pemendapan wap kimia, pemindahan bebas polimer

 

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