Effect of high-temperature thermal treatment on the structure and adsorption properties of reduced graphene oxide

We present the study on the structure and adsorption properties of reduced graphene oxide subjected to thermal treatment in temperature range of 1100–2000 °C under flowing argon. The morphology and composition analyses reveal that the defective carbon materials remaining after volatilization of oxygen and hydrogen rearrange into highly ordered hexagonal carbon layers during thermal treatment at 2000 °C. The surface area of the resulting carbon layers increases to a value more than fourfold over that of the starting precursor materials. These results offer useful insights to understand the thermal behavior of the carbonaceous decomposition materials.