Drought Tolerant Plants’ Fiber and Recycled PET Co-Fibrous Composite as Acoustic Absorbers and Thermal Insulators

ABSTRACT

 In this paper, the series of co-fibrous composite materials combining natural fiber derived from drought-tolerant plants (pineapple, hemp, sisal, and agave) and recycled-polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) were successfully prepared using a mixing-hot-pressing method. The area density and thickness of prepared co-fibrous materials were controlled and porosity was calculated. The co-fibrous materials with higher porosity showed better performance in sound absorption and thermal insulation. Furthermore, all prepared co-fibrous materials have a noise reduction coefficient (NRC) higher than the high-efficiency sound absorber standard at 0.56, making them comparable to commercially available products. Regarding sound absorption performance at a high frequency of 2–5 kHz, the prepared co-fibrous materials exhibited exceptional sound absorbing performance with a sound absorption coefficient (SAC, αH) ranging from 0.94 to 0.97. In terms of thermal insulation performance, both pineapple and hemp co-fibrous materials demonstrated a low thermal conductivity value of 0.029 W/mK, placing them in the range of commercial polyurethane (PU) insulating materials. In conclusion, the pineapple and hemp co-fibrous composite demonstrate potential as alternative eco-friendly commercial sound absorbers and insulators that can subsidizing petroleum-based products.

摘要

目前，玻璃纤维和芳纶等商用纤维增强吸声复合材料占据了当前市场的主导地位. 然而，这些复合材料的可回收性和高生产成本已成为可持续和廉价替代品的驱动力. 本文采用混合热压的方法，成功地制备了以耐干旱植物（菠萝、大麻、剑麻和龙舌兰）为原料的天然纤维与再生聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（r-PET）相结合的一系列共纤维复合材料. 控制所制备的共纤维材料的面积密度和厚度，并计算孔隙率. 孔隙率较高的共纤维材料具有较好的吸声和隔热性能. 此外，所有制备的共纤维材料的降噪系数（NRC）都高于0.56的高效吸声器标准，使其与商用产品相当. 所制备的共纤维材料在2-5 kHz的高频下的吸声性能表现出优异的吸声性能，αH） 范围为0.94至0.97. 在隔热性能方面，菠萝和大麻共纤维材料都表现出0.029W/mK的低导热值，使其处于商业聚氨酯（PU）隔热材料的范围内. 总之，菠萝和大麻共纤维复合材料显示出作为替代环保商业吸声器和绝缘体的潜力，可以补贴石油产品.

KEYWORDS:

• Natural fibers
• porous materials
• acoustic absorption coefficient
• thermal insulator
• And PET composite

关键词:

• 天然纤维
• 多孔材料
• 吸声系数
• 热绝缘体
• 和PET复合材料

Acknowledgments

This research was partly funded by Kasetsart University Research and Development Institute (KURDI), Bangkok, Thailand. We thank Kasetsart University for facilities and financial support. The author would like to thank Dr. Kanokan Hancharoen, Center of Building Innovation and Technology (Cbit), Faculty of Architecture, Kasetsart University for kindly advice for sound testing of our samples. The authors are grateful to the Cellulose for Future Materials and Technologies Special Research Unit, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand for publication support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Kasetsart University Research and Development Institute (KURDI).