Materials Chemistry and Physics 248 (2020) 122924 Available online 14 March 2020 0254-0584/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Synthesis of graphene from solid carbon sources: A focused review Arif Hussain a , Syed Muntazir Mehdi b , Naseem Abbas c, * , Muzamil Hussain d , Rizwan Ali Naqvi e a Department of Mechanical Convergence Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, Republic of Korea b Department of Mechanics and Design, Kookmin University, Seoul, 02707, Republic of Korea c School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, 06974, Republic of Korea d Mechanical Engineering Department, NFC Institute of Engineering and Technology, 60000, Multan, Pakistan e Department of Unmanned Vehicle Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul, 05006, Republic of Korea HIGHLIGHTS G R A P H I C A L ABSTRACT � We critically reviewed the Synthesis of graphene particularly from solid carbon sources. � We summarized and compared the different types of solid carbon sources. � We summarized the graphene growth from polymers, graphite, SiC, Solid and Bio-wastes. � We concluded that our study can pro- vide a pathway towards the challenge of large area low-cost R2R production of graphene. A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Graphene synthesis Solid carbon sources A focused review Chemical vapor deposition Solid precursors Polymers ABSTRACT Graphene, the two-dimensional form of carbon, gained immense attention from scientists and engineers around the world due to its unmatched physio-chemical properties. The frst and foremost challenge faced by the research community so far has been the large-area synthesis of graphene. Thereby, keeping in view the feasibility and applicability, many research groups have put their efforts into producing the best quality graphene by different techniques including mechanical exfoliation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and epitaxial growth. Hitherto, CVD, by far, provides the best quality graphene that can be adopted at the industrial level. However, other techniques have also been put to the test, some of which are also the highlights of our study. Herein, we present a review of the graphene growth via Solid Carbon Sources in particular. Solid precursors such as graphite, SiC, polymers, and even solid bio-precursors and solid waste materials are used in different studies in an effort to produce viable and better-quality graphene. 1. Introduction Prior to their discovery, it was argued that two-dimensional (2D) crystals could not exist in free state due to their thermodynamic insta- bility [1,2]. They were considered as the elemental constituents of more extensive three-dimensional (3D) structures (such as graphite) [3,4] * Corresponding author. E-mail address: naseem@cau.ac.kr (N. Abbas). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Materials Chemistry and Physics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matchemphys https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2020.122924 Received 27 December 2019; Received in revised form 10 March 2020; Accepted 12 March 2020