Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2011
Infrared spectroscopy is used to monitor the evolution of CO2 (2330-2350 cm-1) and CO (2050-2200 cm-1) generated during thermal reduction of graphite oxide. The appearance of CO2 at low temperatures (≤200°C) is associated with oxygen removal in species such as anhydrides, esters, lactols, carboxylic acids and lactones either at the edges or in the distorted basal plane of the GO sheets. At higher temperatures (250°C-750°C), release of CO is observed and may be due to decomposition of CO2 or oxygen-containing species like ethers, carbonyls, phenols or quinones. Observation of these gases is possible in multilayer GO because they are trapped in between the interlayer spacing of GO stacks for a time sufficient for detection.