Restoring the electrical conductivity of graphene oxide films by UV light induced oxygen desorption

We report a chemical free method for the reduction of graphene oxide (GO) thin films. It was observed how for GO films annealed in air the oxygen species desorb from the GO surface upon exposure to UV light and how the surface resistivity of such deoxygenated GO films decreases with increasing the exposure to the UV light. The obtained results open a clean as well as easy route for the integration of GO based materials into optoelectronic devices.