This research studied the synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene via a low-cost manufacturing method. The process started with the chemical oxidation of commercial graphite powder into graphite oxide by modified Hummer’s method, followed by the exfoliation of graphite oxide in distilled water using the ultrasound frequency from a laboratory ultrasonic bath. Finally, the oxygen functional groups on exfoliated graphite oxide or graphene oxide were eliminated by stirring in hot distilled water at 95°C, as a replacement for highly toxic and dangerously unstable hydrazine. The results assured that stirring in hot distilled water could give the product of graphene or reduced graphene oxide. The samples were characterized by FTIR, XRD, TGA, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and TEM methods.

The waste shell was utilized as a bioresource of calcium oxide (CaO) in catalyzing a transesterification to produce biodiesel (methyl ester). The economic and environmen-friendly catalysts were prepared by a calcination method at 700–1,000°C for 4 h. The heterogeneous catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The effects of reaction variables such as reaction time, reaction temperature, methanol/oil molar ratio, and catalyst loading on the yield of biodiesel were investigated. Reusability of waste shell catalyst was also examined. The results indicated that the CaO catalysts derived from waste shell showed good reusability and had high potential to be used as biodiesel production catalysts in transesterification of palm oil with methanol.

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