2024-04-12 11:00:32
According to recent research, cigarette butts account for $26 billion in environmental costs. Hence, being able to give them a new life that allows reducing their impact on the environment represents an important challenge in order to achieve a more circular and sustainable economy.
A team of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) in Spain has faced this challenge and has managed to create a new type of thermoacoustic ecopanels using cigarette butts as a central element for insulation.
And the use of conventional insulating materials is currently booming due to the increase in thermal and acoustic requirements set by the regulations of many countries in the construction and rehabilitation of homes. These materials seek to contribute to energy savings and improve the thermal and acoustic comfort of the occupants. However, the increase in its use is not without problems for the environment.
For example, the sector information company Alimarket® warns of the alarming growth of mineral wool waste in recent years, where 3,115,257 square meters were sold in Spain in 2021. Hence, researchers chose to look for new materials that incorporate waste and provide the construction element with better thermal and acoustic performance, incorporating circular economy criteria.
“Our objective was to find a way to improve the acoustic absorption of plasterboard while giving new life to a material that is difficult to destroy and recycle such as cigarette butts and if we also improved thermal insulation, much better” , explain the authors of the study.
The team, led by Patricia Aguilera Benito from the UPM, started with a conventional gypsum matrix to which they incorporated one of the waste from tobacco, specifically cigarette filters.
“The butts undergo a cleaning process before use, they are prepared in different formats and mixed with the plaster, at the same time they are incorporated into the finishing surface of the final piece,” explain the researchers from the School Higher Building Technician from the UPM.
The result is a new type of eco-gypsum panel that not only improves its thermal insulation properties, but also offers better acoustic absorption, so necessary and traditionally neglected, all this with the added advantage that the costs of the installation are not increased. fabrication process.
“It has been proven that cigarette filters have an absorption coefficient within the range of what is considered an acoustic absorbing material, as well as an optimal thermal conductivity coefficient.” “That is why, incorporated into the plaster mix, they achieve better thermal conductivity coefficients and, applied on the side that will be in contact with the interior of the space, a good acoustic absorption coefficient.”
Specifically, the addition of cigarette butts to the plaster, with all the residue, without undergoing any cutting, compaction or grinding process facilitates the development of porosity in the structure in which it is included, improving the thermal properties of the new material. And for the acoustic insulation tests, the results were equally good.
For UPM researchers, the importance of this work lies in the possibilities it offers to improve the properties of the plaster used in construction, also reducing the environmental damage generated by this type of waste.
“Not only is the acoustic comfort of a space improved, but a panel is produced with a lower environmental footprint because a very common waste in the environment is removed,” the researchers conclude.
By. Science News