Magnetic nanoparticle-attached graphene oxide nanosheets (GO@Fe3O4) were first synthesized and then employed as nanofillers to create a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nano-composite with magnetic characteristics. When subjected to an applied magnetic field, this new nanocomposite exhibited superparamagnetic behavior, with the saturation magnetization strength depending on the content of GO@Fe3O4 hybrid nanofillers. Tensile tests were conducted to characterize the mechanical properties of the PVA nanocomposites with GO nanosheets, Fe3O4 nanoparticles and hybrid GO@Fe3O4 nanofillers. The addition of 0.3 wt% of GO nanosheets resulted in substantial increase (230%) in failure strain from 72% for the neat PVA film to 237% for the PVA/0.3GO nanocomposite films. This dramatic improvement in ductility was shown, through detailed examination of the fracture surface of the tensile specimens, to originate from the highly aligned, layered GO nanoplatelets during the tensile fracture process. Furthermore, the introduction of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and GO nanosheets has also significantly improved the thermal stability of PVA. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.