Laser Induced Hydrogen Emission from Ethanol with Dispersed Graphene Particles

Efficient hydrogen emission from ethanol with disperse graphene foam particles by using a continuous wave infrared laser diode is reported. The products of ethanol dissociation - hydrogen, methane and carbon oxide were measured using mass spectrometry. It was found that the most efficient generation of hydrogen was observed when graphene particles were irradiated by a focused laser beam proceeded at the surface of ethanol solution. The process was assisted by intense white light emission resulting from the laser induced multiphoton ionization of graphene combined with the simultaneous emission of hot electrons. The hot electron emission enables the efficient dissociation of ethanol molecules located close to the solution surface with graphene foam particles.