abstract
The reduction of noise pollution in buildings, a critical global public health concern, demands the development of novel acoustic barriers that meet with the sustainability requirements envisioned for future building materials. Herein, additive manufacturing was explored to develop 3D-printed geopolymer structures combining high porosity, mechanical strength, and remarkable acoustic properties, a pioneering study in this area. The results demonstrate that lattice design can effectively tailor the acoustic performance of these novel materials. A 21-mm thick structure with filaments rotated by 45 degrees between layers exhibited an impressive sound absorption coefficient across the studied frequency range (alpha reaching 0.90 at 3150 Hz) alongside a compressive strength (6.9 MPa). In contrast, a structure with filaments rotated by 90 degrees showed slightly lower sound absorption performance (alpha = 0.84) but significantly higher strength (12.6 MPa). These promising findings could pave the way for the broader use of environmentally conscious geopolymers in acoustic applications.
keywords
FLY-ASH; LIGHTWEIGHT AGGREGATE; SOUND-ABSORPTION; INSULATION; CONCRETE; CONSTRUCTION; FOAM
subject category
Science & Technology - Other Topics; Engineering; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
authors
Pereira, CM; Vieira, H; Gonçalves, NPF; Ascensao, G; Novais, RM
our authors
Carolina Matias Pereira
MSc Student
Guilherme Ascensão
Research Fellowship
Nuno Gonçalves
Junior Researcher
Rui Miguel Novais
Assistant ProfessorGroups
G1 - Porous Materials and Nanosystems
G2 - Photonic, Electronic and Magnetic Materials
G4 - Renewable Materials and Circular Economy
Projects
CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDB/50011/2020)
CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDP/50011/2020)
Associated Laboratory CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (LA/P/0006/2020)
acknowledgements
This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020 (DOI 10.54499/UIDB/50011/2020) , UIDP/50011/2020 (DOI 10.54499/UIDP/50011/2020) & LA/P/0006/2020 (DOI 10.54499/LA/P/0006/2020) , financed by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) . G. Ascensao acknowledge the financial support of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the project UIDB/04625/2025 of the research unit CERIS.