Carbon nanomaterial produced by microwave exfoliation of graphite oxide: new insights

We present detailed characterization of graphene-like material obtained through microwave stimulated exfoliation of graphite oxide (GO). Properties of this material were studied by multiple techniques including, among others, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, mass-spectroscopy, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and broadband dielectric spectroscopy. Specific surface area and volume of microwave exfoliated graphite oxide reached 600 m super(2) g super(-1) and 6 cm super(3) g super(-1), respectively. It is shown that during such an explosive reduction process the sample emits CO sub(2), CO and H sub(2)O and, in some cases, SO sub(2) gases. The resulting reduced material exhibits IR spectra similar to that of graphite and a dc-conductivity of 0.12 S cm super(-1).