(688c) Synthesizing Graphene Materials from Kraft Lignin

A novel process is developed for high-volume production of low-cost graphene materials from any solid carbon resources, especially lignin sources. Few-layer graphene materials from kraft lignin are produced through a molecular cracking and welding (MCW) method. The MCW technique is a single step process with two stages, i.e., graphene-encapsulated core-shell nanoparticles are first formed by catalytic thermal treatment of kraft lignin. Then in the second stage these core-shell structures are opened by ‘cracking molecules’, the cracked graphene shells are self-welded and reconstructed to high quality multilayer graphene materials under a heating temperature with selected welding reagent gases. This novel graphene material with super hydrophobic properties can be used to filter water from crude oil emulsion for petroleum industry.