Recycling anode graphite remains a significant barrier to the recovery of used Li-ion batteries. In this
study, we show that anode graphite in used lithium-ion batteries is a cheap and ideal candidate for the
high yield production of high-quality graphene. Attributed to the reduced interlayer force after
repeated charge–discharge cycles, the sonication assisted exfoliation efficiency of the used anode graphite
can be 3 to 11 times that of natural graphite, with a highest mass yield of the dispersed graphene sheets of
40 wt%. Importantly, the layer numbers of most of the exfoliated graphene sheets are 1–4 , and their
lateral sizes are over 1 mm. Their conductivity after annealing at moderate temperature (500 C) is up to
9100 S m1, and their potential application in conductive ink was also demonstrated.