State-of-the-Art Graphene Synthesis Methods and Environmental Concerns

Table 2

Challenges in industrial-scale graphene synthesis [1].

Factor	Challenges
Quality	Commercially available graphene flakes lack uniformity in both size and number of layers with varying degrees of impurity and defects
Cost	High energy consumption, specialized equipment, thermal annealing, and filtration accumulate the price of producing graphene on a large scale
Repeatability	Quality and properties of graphene varies depending on the source material (existing structural defects) and synthesis conditions (process parameters and equipment)
Workability	Commercially available graphene products are only 50% actual graphene which hinders potential applications. Poor repeatability has also restricted applications to use in composites where consistency is not a priority
Safety	Use of chemicals (oxidizing agents and surfactants) in certain graphene synthesis processes are hazardous and/or cause pollution