Mechanism for increased thermal instability and fire risk of graphite oxide containing metal salts

The salt impurities in graphite oxide (GO) or graphene oxide usually affects their properties and application. Here, thermal stability and hazard (fire risk) of graphite oxide (GO) assembled films with salt impurities including K2SO4 and MnSO4 were investigated by C80 micro-calorimeter, thermogravimetric analysis combined with infrared spectrometry techniques. It was found that the metal impurities can significantly increase the release of flammable CO during thermal decomposition of GO, even at a very low content. The mechanisms of thermal instability and fire risk of GO containing metal salts was proposed.