A fast, efficient and simple method is presented for the production of high quality graphene on a large scale by using an atmospheric pressure plasma-based technique. This technique allows to obtain high quality graphene in powder in just one step, without the use of neither metal catalysts and nor specific substrate during the process. Moreover, the cost for graphene production is significantly reduced since the ethanol used as carbon source can be obtained from the fermentation of agricultural industries. The process provides an additional benefit contributing to the revalorization of waste in the production of a high-value added product like graphene. Thus, this work demonstrates the features of plasma technology as a low cost, efficient, clean and environmentally friendly route for production of high-quality graphene.

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The synthesis of nanostructured carbon materials by using microwave plasmas at atmospheric pressure is presented. This technique involves only one step and without any other supplementary chemical process or metal catalyst. Multi-layer graphene, multi-wall carbon nananotubes and H 2 were obtained by the plasma after ethanol decomposition. Strong emissions of both C 2 molecular bands and C carbon were emitted by the plasma during the process. Futhermore, plasma parameters were studied. Our research shows that both C 2 radicals and high gas temperatures (>3000 K) are required for the synthesis of these materials, which contribute to the understanding of materials synthesis by plasma processes.

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