Medellin, Colombia – A team of scientists in Colombia has developed a new material for noise control applications made from waste plastic. Polyurethane is the binder.
Henry Colorado and team at the composites laboratory in the Universidad de Antioquia’s engineering department used waste PET bottles to make the material. The bottles were cut in a mechanical grinder to give concave scales, which were then impregnated with a polyurethane binder in a ratio of 85:15. No heat treatment or curing process was required.
Samples 10, 20 and 30mm thick of the resin composite were made, and they were 50–175 times stronger than the commercial product.
Its noise blocking properties were assessed using an impedance tube. Good acoustic absorption was seen for the frequency bands of 125Hz, 1kHz and 4kHz. They concluded that the material has potential as acoustic insulation in double partitions and sandwich composite panels.
The work has been published in the Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management.
