Good acoustics in the workspace improve work efficiency and productivity, which is one of the reasons why acoustic materials matter. The acoustic insulation market is already expected to hit 15 billion USD by 2022 as construction firms and industry pay more attention to sound environments. Researchers have now studied how these common elements around us could become more eco-friendly, with the help of cellulose fibers.
Jose Cucharero, Tuomas Hänninen, Marko Makkonen, Tapio Lokki. Acoustic Coatings—A Discreet Way to Control Acoustic Environment. Frontiers in Built Environment, 2021; 7 DOI: 10.3389/fbuil.2021.665332
Acoustic comfort is directly related to enhanced well-being and performance of people. A typical challenge faced by architects and acousticians is to achieve adequate acoustics while maintaining the aesthetics of the space and reducing the visual aspects of acoustic materials and elements. In this study, we present a biofiber-based acoustic coating as a feasible solution to improve acoustic environments while preserving the aesthetics of spaces. An acoustic coating is a thin layer of absorption material, but the coating can be sprayed on other sound absorbing structures to make it more effective on a wide frequency range. In addition, this biofiber-based coating acts as a carbon sink during its operating life, thus reducing the carbon footprint of the building. Therefore, the coating is sustainable and is an environmental friendly solution. The absorption properties of the biofiber-based coating are demonstrated in the present study with three case studies, which all had demanding requirements to conceal the acoustic structures.
Jose Cucharero, Sara Ceccherini, Thad Maloney, Tapio Lokki, Tuomas Hänninen. Sound absorption properties of wood-based pulp fibre foams. Cellulose, 2021; 28 (7): 4267 DOI: 10.1007/s10570-021-03774-1
In this study, sound absorbing materials were produced through foam forming technique using hardwood and softwood pulps with varying chemical composition, ultrastructural, and morphological properties as raw materials. The sound absorption properties of the produced foams were measured and related to the ultrastructure and the morphology of the pulp fibres. All the fibre foams provided sound absorption properties comparable to those of conventional porous materials used for acoustic purposes. In general, further processing, as well as smaller fibre dimensions contribute to improve the sound absorption properties of the pulp fibre foams. The results provide valuable insight on the optimization of wood-based sound absorbing materials.
