Chemically modified graphene: Flame retardant or fuel for combustion?

Graphene oxide (GO), an oxidized form of graphene, has attracted lots of attention due to its solution processability and chemical reactivity from its functional groups. GO is known as a promising flame retarding nano-additive in polymers. Interestingly, a local hot spot can trigger a rapid and self-propagating reaction to convert GO into a more stable form, reduced-GO (r-GO). However, the presence of potassium salt impurities causes catastrophic reduction (carbon combustion) of GO (r-GO) once these chemically modified graphene materials are triggered by a hot spot. The self-propagating reduction from GO solids is due to its highly energetic nature, suggesting that caution needs to be adopted against a possible fire hazard.