This work reports the study of the effect of chemical functionalization of carbon nanotubes on their dispersion in poly(lactic acid). The nanotubes were functionalized by the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction, generating pyrrolidine groups at the nanotube surface. Further reaction of the pyrrolidine groups with poly(lactic acid) was studied in solution and in the polymer melt. The former involved refluxing the nanotubes in a dimethylformamide/polymer solution; the latter was carried out by direct melt mixing in a microcompounder. The carbon nanotubes collected after each process were characterized by thermogravimetry and by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, showing evidence of polymer bonded to the nanotube surface only when the reaction was carried out in the polymer melt. The composites with polymer modified nanotubes present smaller average agglomerate area and a narrower agglomerate area distribution. In addition, they show improved tensile properties at low CNT concentration and present lower electrical resistivity. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 3740-3750