In recent years, wastes reduction and their conversion into new resources are becoming a major requirement for our society. A considerable interest is focused on the use of recycled textile materials in building products and on their potential application as absorbing acoustic material. In developing innovative products it is not only important to recycle, but also to manufacture devices with recycled content. The challenge is the use of textile waste fibers and nontoxic binder to obtain composite materials with less social, economic and environmental impact. In this paper 100% merino wool wastes bounded with chitosan are investigated to obtain sound absorbing materials, particularly for the acoustic refurbishment of the open-office spaces. The use of chitosan instead of synthetic and plastic elements represents a valid solution to obtain bio-materials for optimizing buildings environmental sustainability. The acoustic performance of innovative composite materials were investigated. Measurements of normal incidence sound absorption coefficient were carried out by means of a standing wave tube, according to ISO standard 10534-2. Experimental results were very promising, showing absorption coefficient higher than 0.5 at frequencies above 500 Hz. This proved that it could be possible to produce sustainable alternative to traditional commercial synthetic products.
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