Sound absorption and thermal insulation materials from waste palm oil for housing application: Green polyurethane/water hyacinth fiber sheet composite

Abstract

This research presents an eco-friendly method for producing polyurethane foam (PUF) and water hyacinth fiber (WHF) sheets. The objectives were to engineer wall materials with sound-absorption and thermal insulation capabilities while also improving the mechanical properties of pure PUF. Waste palm oil (WPO) was successfully utilized as a polyol substrate, playing a substantially role in PUF generation, acting as a PU binder, and serving as a PU adhesive. The productions of PUF (NCO index of 100) combined with WHF sheets (WHF/PU binder ratio of 60/40) using four distinct fabrication methods (sheet-foam-sheet (SFS), foam-sheet-foam (FSF), foam-foam-foam (FFF), and sheet-sheet-sheet (SSS)) were investigated with a fabrication thickness of 150 mm. The findings indicate that the SFS configuration demonstrates remarkable sound absorption properties, with an average sound absorption (SAA) of 0.59, noise reduction coefficient (NRC) of 0.39, and the highest sound absorption coefficient (SAC) of 0.93 at 1900 Hz, alongside a thermal conductivity of 0.0301 W/mK. Importantly, all four methodologies produce SAC values greater than 0.4, outperforming commercial counterparts while demonstrating low thermal conductivity indicative of effective thermal insulation. The result noted that WHF sheet exhibited self-extinguishing properties, making them suitable for use in construction materials. As a result, SFS emerges as the best method for constructing superior sound absorption and thermal insulation materials. This study emphasizes the potential of waste derived WPO and WHF as advantageous eco-friendly substrates for industrial wall and housing materials.