Temperature Programmed Desorption Study of Graphene Oxide

Graphene oxide is an electrical insulator that shows potential for use in nanoscale electronic devices. An understanding of the thermal stability of graphene oxide sheets is important since the electrical, chemical, and mechanical properties of graphene oxide will change as it is reduced at elevated temperatures. In this study, graphene oxide films were grown by deposition of an aqueous solution of graphene oxide onto oxygen plasma cleaned silicon nitride on silicon substrates. The thermal stability of these films was studied by temperature programmed desorption under ultra-high vacuum conditions up to 350 $^{\circ}$C. The primary decomposition components of the films are H$_{2}$O, CO$_{2}$ and CO. Desorption of these components starts at $\sim $70 $^{\circ}$C and is completed by $\sim $150$^{\circ}$C. Coverage dependent measurements indicate that the desorption kinetics are second order. An activation energy of 162 meV for CO$_{2}$ desorption has been determined.