An environmentally friendly sound insulation material from post-industrial textile waste and natural rubber

The global production of textiles is in a steep rise. Consequently, managing subsequent post-industrial textile waste is becoming increasingly challenging. In the absence of proper waste management facilities, post-industrial textile wastes are mostly landfilled or incinerated, leading to create both environmental and social hazardous. This research investigated a novel method of developing sound insulation materials using cotton/polyester mixed wastes and natural rubber. Compression moulding technique was used to produce sample materials, using natural rubber as a bonding agent. A range of samples have been prepared by varying the moulding pressure, temperature and the panel thickness. The acoustic properties were assessed based on the Sound absorption coefficient (SAC) and the noise reduction coefficient (NRC) of the materials measured using the impedance tube apparatus. Optimum parameters were obtained at moulding pressure of 15 Tons on 4” diameter ram and compression temperature at 150 °C. NRC values of the newly developed materials ranged in between 0.5 and 0.7. Test results showed that the sound insulation properties of the samples were in par with the commercially available sound insulation panels. Moreover, the results showed that the sound insulation property of the panels increased with increasing thickness. •Textile wastes pose environmental threats when landfilled or incinerated.•Cotton/Polyester mixed wastes were used to produce a sound insulation material.•Compression moulding technique under heat was used to manufacture the novel material.•Novel material indicates good sound insulation properties.