Virgin Natural Cork Characterization as a Sustainable Material for Use in Acoustic Solutions

Juan Miguel Barrigón Morillas, David Montes González, Rosendo Vílchez-Gómez, Valentín Gómez Escobar, Rubén Maderuelo-Sanz, Guillermo Rey Gozalo and Pedro Atanasio Moraga
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Juan Miguel Barrigón Morillas: Institute for Sustainable Regional Development (INTERRA), Lambda, Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
David Montes González: Institute for Sustainable Regional Development (INTERRA), Lambda, Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Rosendo Vílchez-Gómez: Institute for Sustainable Regional Development (INTERRA), Lambda, Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Valentín Gómez Escobar: Institute for Sustainable Regional Development (INTERRA), Lambda, Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Rubén Maderuelo-Sanz: Instituto Tecnológico de Rocas Ornamentales y Materiales de Construcción (INTROMAC), Campus Universidad de Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain
Guillermo Rey Gozalo: Institute for Sustainable Regional Development (INTERRA), Lambda, Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Pedro Atanasio Moraga: Institute for Sustainable Regional Development (INTERRA), Lambda, Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: A characterization of the sound absorption of a sustainable material with scarce current use such as natural virgin cork is presented in this paper in order to explore further possible applications in the design of acoustic solutions. Different samples of virgin cork not bonded and various decorative panel formats were tested under random sound incidence conditions in a standardized reverberation chamber. The samples in which the outer bark of the cork was facing upwards showed a better behavior as an acoustic absorber, with sound absorption coefficient values generally greater than 0.6 for frequency bands between 1 and 5 kHz. The results obtained were compared with samples of some recycled materials available in the scientific literature, such as sheep wool and PET.

Keywords: sound absorption; reverberation chamber; ISO 354; green circular economy; building material (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:4976-:d:545813

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