Australian research: Peanut shells are "turned waste into treasure" for the preparation of graphene

Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia have recently developed a method to produce high-quality graphene using waste peanut shells. This opens the door to creating cheaper and more sustainable electronic products and energy storage devices, while also helping to reuse agricultural waste. Graphene, composed of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, is one of the thinnest, strongest, and most electrically conductive materials known to science, earning it the title of "miracle material." The research team explained that peanut shells are rich in lignin, a natural polymer rich in carbon. They have developed a new method to rearrange the carbon atoms in lignin through a series of heat treatment steps, ultimately producing high-quality graphene. The related research findings have been published in the international journal "Progress in Chemical Engineering."