Polymer Nanocomposites of Surface‐Modified Graphene. I: Thermal and Electrical Properties of Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)/Aminoacid‐Functionalized Graphene

Extrinsic electrically conducting polymer composites are versatile materials for applications in sensors, electrical components, antistatic coatings, among others. The use of carbon‐based conducting loads, such as graphene, in polymer nanocomposites allows the manufacturing of suitable electrically conducting films for a variety of applications. In our work, graphene sheets are covalently modified with histidine, phenylalanine, or beta‐alanine aminoacids, in order to improve dispersion and impart extrinsic conductivity to poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) films. The presence of organic groups in the surface of graphene sheets improved their dispersion in polymer matrices. In addition, such benign surface modifiers are suitable to produce environmentally friendly, electrically conducting loads for polymer nanocomposites. Our findings showed that aminoacid‐functionalized graphenes have good dispersability, resulting in semiconducting nanocomposite films with preserved thermal stability, suggesting that these carbon‐based nanoloads are suitable additives for PVA in applications including antistatic paints and coatings.