Developments in the dispersion of graphene nanoplatelets in polylactic acid were achieved
with the aid of a zwitterionic surfactant. The graphene nanoplatelet surface modification was
tracked by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray
diffraction, and elemental analysis. Different amounts of graphene nanoplatelets and surfacemodified graphene nanoplatelets (3 and 6 phr) were used to prepare the polylactic acid
nanocomposite through a solvent-mixing method. It was found that surface-modified graphene
nanoplatelets were exfoliated and homogeneously dispersed in the polylactic acid matrix.
Better dispersion of surface-modified graphene nanoplatelets compared with graphene
nanoplatelets was due to enhancement of the polymer–graphene interaction induced by the
zwitterionic surfactant. The shape memory properties of nanocomposites were evaluated using
thermomechanical analysis. The obtained results revealed that the shape memory performance
of nanocomposite samples was affected by the degree of dispersion. Higher shape recovery of
nanocomposite samples in comparison with that of neat polylactic acid was obtained, which
originated from their higher elastic glassy modulus. Up to 91%shape recovery was determined
in nanocomposite samples containing surface-modified graphene nanoplatelets, which was
attributed to the good dispersion of surface-modified graphene nanoplatelets in the polylactic
acid matrix