Impact of Long-Term Weathering on the Properties of a Digestate-Based Biocomposite

Natural fibre composites are increasingly used. For many applications, the long-term stability of the mechanical properties is crucial. Therefore, the effects of weathering of a biocomposite made from fibrous digestate and bio-based thermoset are investigated. The fibre component of the composite comes from digestate of a German biogas station which processes hop vines as main substrate. The matrix is a plant-oil-based epoxy resin. The samples were alternately exposed to UV radiation and moisture for various lengths of time. Afterwards, the material strength and water absorption were tested. As a result, the weathering leads to a decrease of strength but not to a high increase of water uptake.