Newspaper cellulose enables tap-water processing of e-waste graphite into graphene

Researchers at Dublin City University (DCU), led by materials scientist Conor Boland, have shown that graphene can be produced from electronic-waste graphite using little more than a kitchen blender, waste newspaper and ordinary tap water, extending the group's earlier household-graphene work to waste-derived starting materials as well as waste-derived processing.

The starting point is the graphite heat spreaders found inside phones, laptops and other devices, which draw heat away from components and typically become electronic waste once a device reaches end of life. Around 62 million tonnes of e-waste were generated globally in 2022, of which only 22.3% was documented as properly collected and recycled, and the researchers note that graphite tends to get overlooked next to the metals that dominate e-waste recovery efforts. Chemically, that discarded graphite is no different from the graphite used to make graphene, which consists of single-atom-thick carbon sheets stacked like a deck of cards.