FEASIBILITY OF USING POLYSTYRENE (PS) WASTE AS CARBON SOURCE FOR CARBON NANOMATERIALS (CNMs) PRODUCTION: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Abstract

Fully utilisation of plastic waste to produce Carbon Nanomaterials (CNMs) not only able to produce valuable product but also capable of reducing the waste. In this work, feasibility of using PS waste as carbon source via Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) is evaluated. Ferrocene (FeCp) and argon gas are used as metal catalyst and purging gas, respectively. Two modes of PS waste and FeCp are studied to determine the growth possibility of CNMs. The PS waste and FeCp are placed in the ceramic boats separately (Mode 1) and mixed together (Mode 2). The reaction occurred at reactor temperature of 800 °C for 90 minutes. The flow rate of argon gas used is 115mL/min. CNMs produced by Mode 2 shows greater carbon yield and diameter below 100 nm with narrow diameter distribution. This proves the feasibility of using PS waste for production of CNMs.