Fabrication and properties of an environmentally friendly sound absorbent panel from vermiculite/perlite and wastepaper green composites

In this research, environmentally friendly green composites in the form of sound-absorbent panels were fabricated and studied. The perlite and vermiculite were used for supplying dispersed materials, whereas wastepaper was used as a green matrix phase since it is lightweight. The ratio of perlite and vermiculite varied from 0 to 10% by weight. The green composites were shaped via hand lay-up techniques followed by a compression technique. The physical, mechanical, and sound properties of composite samples were determined. From the results, it was observed that adding the perlite and vermiculite into the wastepaper can improve the sound properties of the green composite sample. The sound absorption coefficient of the sample was about 0.830 and 0.89 for adding perlite and vermiculite into the wastepaper, respectively, which leads to the conclusion that the sound-absorbent panel green composites can absorb the sound energy about 83% and 89%, which is higher than that of fiberglass insulation. Additionally, when 2 wt% perlite and vermiculite were added to the wastepaper matrix, the high noise reduction coefficient (NRC) of the resulting green composites was found to be 0.71 and 0.72, respectively. This indicates lightweight paper-based green composite adding perlite and vermiculite particles not only offers an eco-friendly alternative but also provides the lightweight and competitive sound absorption properties suitable for construction materials such as acoustic panels. • This study analyzed the mechanical and sound properties of green composite from wastepaper and additive porous materials, which has the ability to be used for sound-absorbent panels. • The NRC was measured to be 0.71 and 0.72 for a product with wastepaper composites with perlite and vermiculite for sound absorber. • We fabricated and developed the low cost, but high efficiency green composites sound absorbent materials from wastepaper and porous fillers.