G.Q. Li, H. Lin, Z. Chen, C.L. Wang, R.L. Guo, L. Wang, J.J. Chen, D.H. Wang, L.Z. Zhang * and Z.-S. Wu *

Advanced Functional Materials, 2026, accepted.

High-quality graphene prepared by eco-friendly green methods is critical to maximizing the performance of its applications. Here, we use solid lithiation and exfoliation to achieve the green and scalable production of high-quality graphene, avoiding the use of strongoxidants. This intercalation-exfoliation process yields high-quality few-layered graphene nanosheets with an average thickness of 1.1 nm and high crystallinity. The produced graphene nanosheets have a low defect density (ID/IG≈0.11) and a high C/O ratio (~24.6), enabling large-scale dispersed production with a yield of 26.7%. Further, our graphene nanosheets show good thermal stability, remaining stable without signifcant weight loss up to 550 °C and almost completely decomposing around 700 °C during thermogravimetric analysis. In addition, the as-exfoliated graphene nanosheets were used as an conductive substrate for oxygen evolution reaction catalyst. Co-loaded graphene exhibits excellent catalytic activity and long-term stability, with an overpotential of 0.34 V at 10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 99 mV dec−1. Therefore, our work provides an efficient method for the green production of high-quality graphene.