  Most polymers are long-lasting and produced from monomers derived from fossil
fuel sources. Bio-based and/or biodegradable plastics have been proposed as a
sustainable alternative. Amongst those available, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)
shows great potential across a large variety of applications but is currently
limited to packaging, cosmetics and tissue engineering due to its relatively
poor physical properties. An expansion of its uses can be accomplished by
developing nanocomposites where PHAs are used as the polymer matrix. Herein, a
PHA biopolyester was melt blended with graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) or with a
1:1 hybrid mixture of GNPs and carbon nanofibers (CNFs). The resulting
nanocomposites exhibited enhanced thermal stability while their Young's modulus
roughly doubled compared to pure PHA. The hybrid nanocomposites percolated
electrically at lower nanofiller loadings compared to the GNP-PHA system. The
electrical conductivity at 15 wt.% loading was ~ 6 times higher than the
GNP-based sample. As a result, the electromagnetic interference shielding
performance of the hybrid material was around 50% better than the pure GNPs
nanocomposites, exhibiting shielding effectiveness above 20 dB, which is the
threshold for common commercial applications. The thermal conductivity
increased significantly for both types of bio-nanocomposites and reached values
around 5 W K-1 m-1 with the hybrid-based material displaying the best
performance. Considering the solvent-free and industrially compatible
production method, the proposed multifunctional materials are promising to
expand the range of application of PHAs and increase the environmental
sustainability of the plastic and plastic electronics industry.
