Chapter 14 Synthesis of Poly-(R)-3 Hydroxyoctanoate (PHO) and Its Graphene Nanocomposites Ahmed Abdala, *,1 John Barrett, 2 and Friedrich Srienc 2 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, The Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Permanent Address: Department of Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Reining, Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Suez University, Suez, Egypt 2 Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 and BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108 * E-mail: aabdala@pi.ac.ae Polyhydroxyalkanoates are a popular class of bioplastics valued for their rapid biodegradadion, biocompatibility, and renewable feedstocks. While there are already a few commercial applications for these biopolymers, a greater diversity of properties is needed to compete with petroleum based polymers. In this chapter, we report the synthesis and characterization of polyhdroxyoctanoate and its nanocomposite with thermally reduced graphene. The results indicate the incorporation of graphene into the PHO matrix leads to a small upshift in the glass transition, enhance the thermal stability, and ~600% increase in modulus. Electrical percolation between 0.5 and 1 vol.% TRG was obtained. © 2013 American Chemical Society Downloaded by PETROLEUM INST on December 15, 2013 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): November 22, 2013 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2013-1144.ch014 In Green Polymer Chemistry: Biocatalysis and Materials II; Cheng, H., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2013.