Production of graphene nanosheets from waste plastics

In this thesis, it has been studied to obtain graphene nanosheets by upcycling methods from plastic wastes, the amount of which is increasing day by day due to the plastics widely used all over the world. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) packaging waste was selected as plastic waste and graphene nanolevha synthesis was carried out by two-stage pyrolysis method. Waste LDPE packages were mixed with different catalysts and subjected to two-stage pyrolysis at 450, 800 and 900 °C under nitrogen atmosphere at heating rates of 5°C/min and 10°C/min, respectively. Following preliminary investigations, graphene nanosheets were obtained under the catalysis of bentonite nanoclay, zinc oxide, and aluminum oxide, with heating rates of 5°C/min and 10°C/min at 450°C and 800°C, respectively. After purification of the obtained graphene nanosheets, their characterization and potential usage areas were determined through FT-IR, XRD, Raman, TEM, TGA, and DSC analyses.