High-performance graphene nanosheets have been synthesized by thermal reduction of graphene oxide (GO) under ethanol atmosphere. The reduced GO nanosheets were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and electrical transport measurements, respectively. The results indicated that the thermal reduction of GO under ethanol atmosphere can effectively remove the oxygen-containing functional groups and restore its graphic structure compared to the ones obtained using hydrazine or hydrogen. The electrical measurements indicated that the electrical mobility of single-layer graphene sheet reduced under ethanol atmosphere at 900 degrees C can reach 29.08 cm(2) V(-1) S(-1) (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.