Accelerated weathering and biodegradation of E-glass polyester composites

Successful material performance of composites depends on the environmental conditions to which they are exposed. Biological factors in aquatic environments may accelerate material deterioration. Simultaneously, leached constituents can adversely affect the surrounding ecosystem. An accelerated weathering was used to demonstrate the ease of coupon biodeterioration. In 3 months, 21 mg l−1 of organics were leached, aquatic bacteria numbers increased by 43%, and biofilm growth was accelerated. Degradability of leached compounds was tested in experiments with water collected from the accelerated weathered coupons and a synthetic leachate. The first experiment verified isophthalaldehyde as a polyester biodegradation byproduct. Although the rate of biodegradation was twice that of the abiotic system, microbial numbers had reduced from 5.0×107 to 5.4×104 CFU l−1. Synthetic resin experiments showed that the bacteria were able to use the resin as a carbon source. However, compound toxicity prevented exponential growth of the bacteria.