Researchers at Aalto University have discovered a new way to use biowaste to provide sound absorption and thermal insulation.
An effective use of sound absorption materials is needed to reduce noise pollution, which constitutes a major environmental and health problem. The current sound absorption materials can be harmful for the environment and often create waste problems at the end of their lifetime.
The researchers found that pectin, a polysaccharide that can be extracted from biowastes such as fruit peels, can be converted into a freeze-dried highly porous material. They can outperform commercial sound absorption materials, such as glass wool and other porous materials with similar thickness.
”The porous material prepared in this work demonstrate the great potential of freeze-casted bio-based sound absorption materials to be employed as an alternative material in industrialization and construction, where environmental-friendly materials are needed. They also display low thermal conductivity and excellent thermal insulation performance”, says Professor Jaana Vapaavuori from the School of Chemical Engineering.
