Abstract

Improper treatment of waste cattle hair (WCH) from the tannery industry causes resource waste and environmental pollution. In this study, solid bonding was taken as the moulding approach. Thermoplastic polyurethane powder coating was used as adhesive to convert WCH into a multiinterface sound/heat insulation foam structure (WCHF). The physical and mechanical properties, air and water vapour permeability, sound/heat insulation properties were characterised. The result showed that, properties of WCHF can be controlled by adjusting the moulding process. The bulk density of WCHF was 0.417-0.775g‧cm-3, the tensile strength was 4.88-41.54MPa, the elastic modulus was and 0.40-32.40MPa, the air permeability was 215.0-488.5mL cm-2‧h-1, and the water vapour permeability was 21.6-66.5g‧m-2‧h-1. The thermal conductivity of WCHF was 0.028-0.234W‧m-1‧K-1 under different temperature. At different frequencies, the sound insulation ratio of WCHF was from 7.4% to 77.0%, with 20mm of thickness and 90dB of initial sound intensity. This scheme is characterised by no consumption of organic solvent, and without any wastewater discharge. The present study provides an effective and clean recycling scheme for both WCH and other waste short fibre.