A green approach for the preparation of a stable reduced graphene oxide (RGO) suspension from graphene oxide (GO) has been developed. This method uses L-serine (L-Ser) as the reductant and yellow dextrin (YD) as the stabilizing agent. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analyses showed that L-Ser can efficiently reduce GO at a comparatively low temperature, and that the YD adsorbed onto the RGO facilitating the formation of a stable RGO aqueous suspension. Since L-Ser and YD are natural environmentally friendly materials, this approach provides a green method to produce stable RGO from GO on a large scale. Sodium salicylate (SS) which has an aromatic structure was loaded onto the RGO through pi-pi interactions and a maximum loading capacity of 44.6 mgig was obtained. The release of the loaded SS can be controlled by adjusting the solution pH, and a 74.8% release was reached after 70 h at pH 7.4. The release profile of SS could be further controlled by incorporating it into RGO Dispersed carboxylated chitosan films. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc.