Gaseous products of thermo- and photo-reduction of graphite oxide

The composition of gases over a graphite oxide is found to depend on the temperature with CO2 being the main component with a range of 23–460 °C. In the temperature range of 150–230 °C, where the most intense yield of gases was observed, CO forms in small amounts. CH4 and CH2O were produced at temperatures below 230 °C, O2 was observed at 150–300 °C, while the complex H2OH·COOH was produced at temperatures above 150 °C. When films composed of graphite oxide nano-sheets were exposed to UV radiation, CO2, CO, H2O, and O2 were produced.