Preparing conductive poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) functionalized graphene (PFG) by admicellar polymerization

We synthesized conductive poly(lactic acid) (PLA) polymer by spiking PLA matrices with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-functionalized graphene (PFG) by virtue of admicellar polymerization. The PFG was prepared by admicellar polymerization of methyl methacrylate monomers adsorbed onto the graphite oxide. The electrical conductivity of the prepared PFG/PLA considerably increases up to 2.58 × 10−4 S/cm with the percentage of PFG under experimented conditions, ∼12 orders of magnitude greater than the PLA. Aside from electrical conductivity, the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of the PFG/PLA also exhibit increases of ∼5 MPa (∼10%) and ∼0.7GPa (>80%) after the 5 wt.% addition of the PFG, respectively. Moreover, with the aid of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), it is clear that the graphene surface is covered by the PMMA films rather than usual discrete nanospheres. Our method may offer an alternative green procedure to synthesize conductive PLA polymer since the materials used in the experiments are bio-degradable and environment-begin.

► Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-functionalized graphene (PFG) nanoparticles were synthesized by admicellar polymerization.
► The PMMA films were coated on the surface of graphene nanosheets by this method.
► The mechanical and electrical properties of PFG/PLA composites were enhanced.
► It is owing to the improvement of interfacial adhesion between PFG and PLA matrix.