Chapter 13 - Cork agglomerates and composites

Abstract

The industrial sector dealing with the production of cork agglomerates is an important component within the total cork chain. It provides an outlet for a large amount of residual by-products that are produced during the manufacture of stoppers and discs as well as for the substantial amount of refuse raw cork planks that are produced in the forest and other types of cork raw materials such as virgin cork. The cork materials that are used have different composition in terms of purity and characteristics of the cork tissue according to their origin and, therefore, are directed to the different productions lines according to the technical demands of the products. Most of the uses of cork agglomerates are related to cork's thermal insulation and energy absorbing properties coupled with considerable physical, chemical, and biological stability. Therefore, they are extensively used in domestic and industrial environments for insulation and surfacing purposes. This chapter discusses the changes that occur in the structure and properties of the cork agglomerates, namely in the case of expanded cork agglomerates where there is an important thermochemical effect on cork.