An intumescent flame retardant, poly(piperazine spirocyclic pentaerythritol bisphosphonate) (PPSPB), has been covalently grafted onto the surfaces of graphene oxide (GO) to obtain GO PPSPB and according nanocomposites were prepared via solvent blending. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results show that the chemically reduced GO PPSPB (CRG-PPSPB) can achieve better dispersion in the ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) matrix and exfoliated EVA/CRG-PPSPB nanocomposites are formed. The results from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and cone calorimeter tests indicate that CRG-PPSPB improve thermal stability and reduce obviously the flammability (including peak heat release rate (PHRR), total heat release (THR), average mass loss rate (AMLR), etc.) of EVA. Compared with pure EVA resin, the PHRR of the EVA/CRG-PPSPB nanocomposites filled with 1 wt% CRG-PPSPB is reduced by about 56%. The SEM images show that a compact, dense and uniform intumescent char is formed for EVA/CRG-PPSPB nanocomposites after combustion. The functionalization of graphene by intumescent flame retardant PPSPB can improve both the dispersion of graphene sheets in the polymer matrix and flame retardancy of the nanocomposites. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.