sustainability

Editorial
Sustainable Acoustic Materials
Jorge P. Arenas 1, * and Kimihiro Sakagami 2
1 Institute of Acoustics, University Austral of Chile, PO Box 567, Valdivia 5090000, Chile
2 Environmental Acoustics Laboratory, Department of Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering,
Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan; [email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +56-632-221012




Received: 10 August 2020; Accepted: 11 August 2020; Published: 13 August 2020


Abstract: Technological advances in materials science, manufacturing processes, chemistry and

nanoscience have led to enormous developments in innovatively engineered materials over recent
decades. Among them, sustainable acoustic materials have helped to improve acoustical comfort in
built environments, and their use is rapidly growing in the architecture, automotive, aerospace and
construction industries. These materials are manufactured through a responsible interaction with the
environment in order to avoid a depletion or degradation of the natural resources, and to allow for
long-term environmental quality. This Special Issue reports on some research studies on membrane
absorbers and fibrous materials of natural origin that can be sustainable alternatives to traditional
acoustic materials.

Keywords: sustainable materials; sound-absorption; natural fibers; acoustic materials; recycled and
recyclable materials; membrane absorbers; nanofibers

1. Introduction
Although the term is complex, and several definitions of ‘sustainability’ can be found in the
literature, the report presented by the World Commission on Environment and Development to the
United Nations General Assembly in 1987 stated that the use of resources and the development
of technologies should “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs” [1]. Therefore, every manufactured material for use in the built
environment should fulfill this definition.
Public awareness and concern about environmental issues has led to the development of several
initiatives, such as the concept of green building materials being used in practice in several countries.
This has also been considered for local construction recommendations and building regulations, favoring
the use of environmentally-friendly materials, less contaminating processes and recycled products.
The purpose of this Special Issue is to report on recent research and development findings in the
field of sustainable acoustic materials, also called eco-materials. Acoustic materials come in a variety of
forms to provide sound-absorption, insulation and vibration damping. These environmentally-friendly
materials are manufactured through a responsible interaction with the environment, to avoid the
depletion or degradation of natural resources and to allow for long-term environmental quality.

2. Sustainable Materials
Sustainable materials is a broad topic, and the answer to the question of what sustainable materials
are is not simple. However, it is reasonable to consider several intrinsic characteristics in order to assess
how sustainable a particular material is. These characteristics include the material’s function during its
whole life-cycle, its performance, availability and regeneration time, the environmental impacts of its
manufacturing process, the net water and energy consumed during its production, the generated waste

Sustainability 2020, 12, 6540; doi:10.3390/su12166540 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability

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material, what the material takes from the environment to operate, the safe and healthy conditions of
the people involved in its production and delivery, its durability, and its post-service life effects [2].
There are many criteria to consider in the selection of a sustainable material. However, it has been
made apparent that sustainable materials are related to the following criteria: resource efficiency, energy
efficiency and pollution prevention [3]. One way to accurately measure the sustainability characteristics
of newly developed materials has been the use of life-cycle assessment (LCA). This analysis considers
the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product, process or service.
LCA analyses have also led to indicators that express the total environmental load related to a
material [4]. LCA procedures have indicated that the production of sustainable materials creates a
lower environmental impact than conventional ones.
In the last few decades, innovative engineered materials have undergone enormous developments
due to recent technological advances in materials science, manufacturing processes, chemistry and
nanoscience. The interest in sustainable acoustic materials is rapidly growing in several sectors, such as
the architecture, automotive, aerospace and construction industries. Examples of sustainable materials
in these sectors are those using a circular design, i.e., transforming demolition debris or waste into
new materials that can be used in construction again. The circular design has not only environmental
benefits, but also permits economic savings by eliminating the expensive processes involved in treating
these residues and reducing the energy consumption of their disposal.

3. Sound-Absorbing Materials
Acoustical quality and comfort are also now being considered in sustainable built environments.
A lack of acoustical considerations in the design of both indoor and outdoor spaces could produce
problems for the users of these spaces, including hearing loss and several non-hearing-related
disorders. Sound-absorbing materials have been commonly used to improve acoustical comfort in
built environments. These materials can absorb sound energy in order to reduce reverberation and
sound levels in closed spaces. Although an acoustic material can be made of a single constituting
material, most acoustic materials are described as composites. A composite material is obtained from
the combination of at least two different materials with significantly different physical or chemical
properties that, when combined, attain properties different from the individual components.
Acoustic materials use different mechanisms to provide sound-absorption. Membrane absorbers
use the energy dissipated by the vibration of a usually thin membrane or panel backed by an air cavity,
which may be filled with a fibrous material. Membranes are rather classical materials for acoustical
purposes, and they have been used for sound reflection, absorption and insulation [5,6]. Membranes
can be either impervious (impermeable) or contain small perforations (permeable). However, materials
with significant sound-absorption properties are usually porous, having a solid phase and a fluid
phase. These materials contain cavities, channels or interstices to produce open, interconnected pores.
The incident sound energy is converted into heat at the wall of the interior pores via the thermal and
viscous loss of air molecules.
One particular type of porous material is the fibrous one. This type of material is composed of an
assembly of continuous filaments that trap air between them. As the sound waves travel through the
material, the fibers rub together and lose energy due to the work done by the frictional forces [7].
In the past, asbestos-based materials were commonly used in acoustical applications. However,
after reports linked asbestos fibers with potential human health hazards, the manufacturing industry
moved to the production of other mineral-based fibrous materials, the most common being made
from glass and rock wool fibers. Considering the high energy demand of these fibers during their
manufacturing process, and the difficulties involved in their safe disposal at the end of their service life,
ecologically-friendly substitute materials have been the focus of recent research [7]. Thus, research into
producing alternative materials that can often be stronger, lighter, less expensive and environmentally
superior to traditional materials has become very important.
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4. Sustainable Alternatives
For better sustainability, several acoustic materials have been developed by using recycled
materials and natural fibers. Many acoustic materials are also recyclable.
Research on the use of eco-materials elaborated from residues, from industrial plants or processes,
has received much attention. These have included studies on the acoustical properties of materials
made of ground polyurethane foam, expanded polystyrene, agricultural residues, used paper and
cardboard, rubber from tires and carpet and textile wastes [4]. Some of these alternative materials
have shown excellent acoustical properties, and their commercial production can be a solution for the
disposal of these materials, preventing them from going to landfills or incinerators.
The use of natural materials instead of non-degradable synthetic ones has contributed to achieving
the better sustainability of buildings. The intensive growing of these materials can also help to reduce
our impact on climate change. In the past, many natural materials have been developed and tested
for acoustical applications. Most of them are related to the use of natural fibers as a source of raw
material to produce porous sound-absorbing materials. These natural fibers exhibit many advantages
compared with synthetic fibers, such as biodegradability, safety, light weight and low costs. Several
studies have been presented on this topic [4].

5. Contributions of the Special Issue

Polymers have been widely used to manufacture sound-absorbing materials. Common petroleum-based
polymeric materials are certainly not biodegradable, but they can be sustainable; however, non-petroleum-based
polymers can be both. Most commercially produced sustainable polymers are made from starch-containing
plants (e.g., corn or sugarcane) and seed oils (e.g., soybean or other vegetable oils). Polymers made from
non-food source materials, such as trees (lignin), switchgrass and agricultural waste products, have received
much attention. Polylactic acid (PLA), although not fully recyclable at present, is the most commonly used
sustainable polymer. Many natural polymers, such as rubber, lignin and humus, biodegrade via an oxidative
mechanism, and consequently much of nature’s biological waste cannot satisfy the rapid mineralization criteria
currently encouraged by standards committees for synthetic polymers [8]. However, the polymers made from
renewable natural resources are not necessarily eco-efficient. For example, cellulose-based polymers use more
non-renewable fossil fuels, and are more contaminating during manufacture than petroleum-based polymers.
One of the most promising areas for producing sound-absorbing fibrous materials is the use of
nanofibers, which are mainly made from polymeric materials. During the process, the polymeric
solution/melt is extruded, drawn, or split into very fine fibers using external chemical or physical
methods. In [9], the authors have characterized the nanofibrous membranes used to coat three porous
bulk acoustic materials. The nanofibrous membranes were made from recyclable Polyamide 6 (PA6) and
water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), using a needleless electrospinning technique. The membranes
were collected in a high-permeability non-woven substrate. The resulting very thin membranes
exhibited high porosity and very high airflow resistivity. The experimental results showed significant
improvements in the sound-absorption performance of the bulk materials after incorporating the
nanofibrous layer.
This Special Issue also includes two contributions dealing with permeable membrane absorbers.
Impermeable membrane-type absorbers can absorb mainly low-frequency sounds through resonance.
This type of material can also be used as a sustainable alternative to classical materials. On the other
hand, permeable membranes (PMs) are woven and non-woven textiles, and lightly resin-coated textiles.
They are highly recyclable when produced from the appropriate material. They absorb sound energy
via their airflow resistances, so they can exhibit sound-absorption characteristics similar to those of
traditional porous and fibrous types. However, PMs are mainly effective for middle to high frequencies,
but when their airflow resistance is optimized, they can show a high sound-absorption performance.
Considering the strength of a PM, which is usually limp, it is better to use it as a space absorber
suspended from ceilings.
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Toyoda et al. [10] presented the numerical prediction of the sound-absorption characteristics
of a three-dimensional space sound-absorber with PMs, in both cylindrical and rectangular forms.
The method uses the boundary element method (BEM), with the mirror image of the absorber. Via the
proposed method, a reasonably accurate prediction was possible. The idea of three-dimensional space
PM absorbers (3D-PMAs) was later developed with a paper folding technique [11], which adds more
aesthetic value to the material. Another paper [12] approached the more basic considerations relevant
to the ability of PMs to be used as a space absorber. In this paper, the planar rectangular space absorber,
which is a rectangular PM just suspended from the ceiling, was tested in a reverberation chamber, and
the resulting diffuse-field sound-absorption coefficients were compared with the theoretical results [13].
The measured value was found to be higher than the theoretical value, which was mainly attributed to
the effect of the area.
An important technical concern regarding the development of materials based on natural fibers is
the prediction of their sound-absorption properties. Since, in general, most natural materials exhibit
high inhomogeneity, the use of an equivalent-fluid approach based on empirical coefficients has been
explored by several researchers in order to predict the acoustical performance of these kinds of fibers.
These formulae only require knowledge of the airflow resistivity of the fibrous material. However,
each material has its own microstructure, so the method requires the determination of the unique
empirical coefficients for each type of natural material, which is usually made by inverse methods [14]
or best-fit numerical procedures [15].
In [16], the sound-absorption properties of raw esparto grass fiber were examined as an
environmentally-friendly material. The sound-absorption coefficients and airflow resistivities were
measured for three different types of pure, raw and dry esparto originating from Pakistan, Tunisia
and Egypt. Using these results, the authors reported best-fit coefficients for the reasonable prediction
of the sound-absorption performance by means of a simple empirical formula. The results of the
sound-absorption coefficients reported for the esparto fibers were comparable to those obtained with
traditional fiberglass materials of equivalent thickness. Thus, these natural fibers appear to be viable
alternatives to synthetic ones in the manufacturing of sound-absorbing materials.
An alternative natural material for sound-absorbing use is presented in the contribution from
Kusno et al. [17]. The authors propose the use of chicken feathers, which is a common by-product in
many countries that produce poultry for human consumption or feather pillows. A unique detail of
this work is that the feathers are just packed in a net container, without using a binder to consolidate
the feathers. Measurements carried out in an impedance tube showed a rather high sound-absorption
coefficient. The authors tried to adopt the conventional Delany–Bazley–Miki (DBM) model [18] to
predict the sound-absorption of the new material. However, the measured airflow resistivity was
unexpectedly low and, eventually, the predicted values using the DBM model were much lower than
the measured ones. The reason why the prediction failed remains an open problem that needs further
investigation. A supposition of the authors is that the higher absorption could be explained by the
structure of the samples in which the feathers can vibrate, and that frictional energy loss occurred.
Even so, the contribution is unique because there are limited examples of the use of a natural material
of animal origin.

6. Conclusions
It is likely that the design and marketing of environmentally-friendly acoustic materials will
steadily grow in the next few years. This will be supported by the increasing public awareness and
concern about the negative effects of current industrial processes on our environment. Therefore,
consumers are favoring eco-materials whose production has considered the efficient use of resources
and energy, thus assuring pollution prevention in their manufacturing. It is expected that the research
findings reported in this Special Issue on sustainable acoustic materials will be a contribution to
this end.
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Author Contributions: All authors (J.P.A. and K.S.) contributed equally to the writing and revision of the
manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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