Mariem Zouari, Marica Mikuljan, and dr. Matthew Schwarzkopf, InnoRenew CoE researchers, recently published a new scientific article »Impact of biochar on the fungal decay resistance of hemp-polylactic acid composites against wood basidiomycetes«, in Frontires.

Natural fibers reinforced composites represent a sustainable alternative to synthetic polymer-based materials, but they are also susceptible to fungal degradation which reduces the lifespan of the composites in use. This is why in this article researchers were investigating the effect of biochar on improving the resistance to fungal decay of polylactic acid (PLA) and hemp-PLA composites.