Fabrication of graphene/polylactide nanocomposites with improved properties

For the purpose of development of graphene/polylactide composites with good performance, a compatibilizer functionalized with pyrene was synthesized by one-step ring-opening polymerization, which presented strong π–π interaction with graphene. The dispersing stability of graphene in organic solvents facilitated the fabrication of composites with uniformly distributed graphene by a solution-cast method. For the resultant composites of graphene and polylactide, the compatibilizer showed positive effects of enhancing crystallization, thermal stability and mechanical property of the composites. Moreover, electrical conductivity of the polymer matrix was greatly increased with the incorporation of graphene, and the addition of the compatibilizer did not cause an obvious change in the electrical conductivity of the resultant composites. The results implied that the compatibilizer, which was obtained by the simple and facile synthetic strategy presented herein, had great potential in the field of composites based on polymer and carbon allotropes.