Poly(lactic acid)/graphene nanocomposites prepared via solution blending using chloroform as a mutual solvent

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/graphene nanocomposites were prepared by direct solution blending of PLA with graphene using chloroform as a mutual solvent. Graphene was prepared by a solution-phase processing followed by thermal reduction, which can be dispersed stably in chloroform for more than one month. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to examine the quality of the dispersion of graphene in the PLA matrix. The thermal properties and crystallization behavior of the nanocomposites were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polar optical microscopy (POM). The results showed that the thermal stability of PLA was significantly improved with a very low loading of graphene and the addition of graphene had a great effect on spherulite morphology of PLA.