Experimental study on durability and acoustic absorption performance of biomass geopolymer-based insulation materials

Abstract

The biomass-based insulation materials have been identified as low-embodied energy materials that reduce energy use and CO2 emissions, particularly in construction. However, as satisfactory insulation material, it must also ensure durability under changing climate conditions. This work investigated the effect of freeze–thaw, wet-dry and cool-heat cycles on the appearance, compressive strength and thermal conductivity of biomass (wheat straw, rice husk and sawdust) geopolymer-based insulation materials. The results showed that, these samples had a good skeleton structure. By contrast, the wheat straw geopolymer-based (WG) samples showed better durability with compressive strength losses of 19.4 %, 1.3 % and 2.6 % in the three modes, respectively. In addition, the WG samples had high sound absorption performance (0.71 at 1028 Hz). This study provides a more systematic analysis of the durability and sound absorption of biomass geopolymer-based insulation materials, which are crucial for their practical application.