Sound Absorption and Insulation Properties of a Polyurethane Foam Mixed with Electrospun Nylon-6 and Polyurethane Nanofibre Mats

Abstract

In recent years, noise has become a serious hazard and can have permanent biological and psychological effects on humans and other organisms in nature. Textile materials are commonly used as absorbent acoustic materials for noise reduction. This work examines the use of electrospun nylon-6 and polyurethane nanofibres (PU NFs) to improve the sound absorption and sound insulation properties of polyurethane foam. In this work, nylon-6 and polyurethane nanofibres were prepared by an electrospinning technique and were glued to a polyurethane foam. The sound absorption coefficient of the materials was measured by the impedance tube method. An impedance tube was used to measure the sound absorption and airborne sound insulation. The results showed decreased sound absorption properties, whereas the sound insulation was highly enhanced when polyurethane/nanofibre hybrids were used, as compared to the pristine polyurethane foam. Furthermore, the sound insulation properties of polyurethane foam were highly enhanced when the foam was combined with nylon-6 NFs, compared with the polyurethane foam with PU NFs. Therefore, by investigating the acoustic characteristics of electrospun nylon-6 and PU nanofibres, we believe that this study can broaden the application of electrospun nanofibres for sound pollution control.