Abstract Divinylbenzene (DVB) was grafted onto polybutylene succinate (PBS) to improve its compatibility with distiller’s grains (DG), an abundant industrial by-product from liquor manufacturing. Introducing aromatic DVB units into the PBS backbone is expected to strengthen interfacial interactions with lignocellulosic DG via π–π interactions and hydrogen bonding. PBS/DG and PBS-g-DVB/DG composites were prepared by melt blending, and the influence of DVB grafting on molecular structure, crystall