Heat and sound insulation applications of pineapple aerogels from pineapple waste

Abstract

Given the harmful effects of agricultural waste residues on the environment and the abundance of pineapple byproducts after harvest, converting pineapple waste into a high-engineering value product for practical applications is one of the solutions toward sustainable development in developing countries. For the first time, flexible cellulose aerogels from raw pineapple-leave fibers (PALF) are developed successfully by using an adhesive agent, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and deionized (DI) water as a solvent, followed by a freeze-drying process. The effects of the pineapple fiber (PF) concentration on the heat and acoustic insulation properties are also investigated. The PF aerogels show high porosities of nearly 99%, ultra-low densities of (0.013–0.033) g/cm3, and a microporous structure which are determined by FE-SEM, BET and XRD analysis. They have very low thermal conductivities of (0.030–0.034) W/mK, indicating their excellent suitability for heat insulation applications. Indeed, the thermal jacket using a PF aerogel as filler wrapped around a water bottle can maintain the water temperature below 0 °C for 6 h (initial temperature of −3 °C), and above 40 °C for 2.5 h (initial temperature of 90 °C). The heat insulation capacity of the thermal jacket is about three times better than that of a commercially available product. With the same thickness, the noise reduction coefficient of 2.0 wt% PF aerogel samples is greater than that of a commercial absorber Basmel, which demonstrates their potential in acoustic insulation applications.