Why is peeling graphene from graphite unsuitable for large-scale production?

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graphene: atomic force microscopy — graphene Atomic force microscopy image of water structures that were trapped beneath a sheet of graphene one atom thick.

Peeling graphene from graphite—a process known as exfoliation—is unsuitable for large-scale production primarily because it is too expensive to perform on a mass scale.1

While the "scotch-tape method" used by researchers to isolate single-layer flakes is effective for laboratory study, it does not provide a viable pathway for industrial manufacturing. Consequently, researchers are exploring alternative production methods, such as chemical vapour deposition on metal surfaces or the thermal decomposition of silicon carbide, to create macroscopically large, atomically thin samples required for modern electronic applications.1