TY - JOUR
T1 - Date Palm Surface Fibers for Green Thermal Insulation
AU - Raza, Mohsin
AU - Al Abdallah, Hyder
AU - Abdullah, Ayah
AU - Abu-Jdayil, Basim
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: The research work was funded by research grants (no. 12R014 and 31R272) from the United Arab Emirates University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Some of the major challenges of the twenty-first century include the continued increase in energy consumption and environmental pollution. One approach to overcoming these challenges is to increase the use of waste materials and environmentally friendly manufacturing methods. The high energy consumption in the building sector contributes significantly to global climatic changes. Here, by using date palm surface fibers, a high-performance green insulation material was developed via a simple technique that did not rely on any toxic ingredients. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as a binding agent. Four insulation samples were made, each with a different density within the range of 203 to 254 kg/m3. Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity values for these four green insulators were 0.038–0.051 W/(m · K) and 0.137–0.147 mm2/s, respectively. Thermal trans-mittance (U−value) of the four insulation composites was between 3.8–5.1 W/m2 · K, which was in good comparison to other insulators of similar thickness. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that insulating sample have excellent thermal stability, with an initial degradation temperature of 282 °C, at which just 6% of its original weight is lost. Activation energy (Ea) analysis re-vealed the fire-retardancy and weakened combustion characteristics for the prepared insulation composite. According to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements, the insulating sample has a melting point of 225 °C, which is extremely close to the melting point of the binder. The fiber-based insulating material’s composition was confirmed by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The ultimate tensile range of the insulation material is 6.9–10 MPa, being a reasonable range. Our study’s findings suggest that developing insulation materials from date palm waste is a promising technique for developing green and low-cost alternatives to petroleum-based high-cost and toxic insulating materials. These insulation composites can be installed in building envelopes during construction.
AB - Some of the major challenges of the twenty-first century include the continued increase in energy consumption and environmental pollution. One approach to overcoming these challenges is to increase the use of waste materials and environmentally friendly manufacturing methods. The high energy consumption in the building sector contributes significantly to global climatic changes. Here, by using date palm surface fibers, a high-performance green insulation material was developed via a simple technique that did not rely on any toxic ingredients. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as a binding agent. Four insulation samples were made, each with a different density within the range of 203 to 254 kg/m3. Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity values for these four green insulators were 0.038–0.051 W/(m · K) and 0.137–0.147 mm2/s, respectively. Thermal trans-mittance (U−value) of the four insulation composites was between 3.8–5.1 W/m2 · K, which was in good comparison to other insulators of similar thickness. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that insulating sample have excellent thermal stability, with an initial degradation temperature of 282 °C, at which just 6% of its original weight is lost. Activation energy (Ea) analysis re-vealed the fire-retardancy and weakened combustion characteristics for the prepared insulation composite. According to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements, the insulating sample has a melting point of 225 °C, which is extremely close to the melting point of the binder. The fiber-based insulating material’s composition was confirmed by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The ultimate tensile range of the insulation material is 6.9–10 MPa, being a reasonable range. Our study’s findings suggest that developing insulation materials from date palm waste is a promising technique for developing green and low-cost alternatives to petroleum-based high-cost and toxic insulating materials. These insulation composites can be installed in building envelopes during construction.
KW - building insulation
KW - date palm surface fibers
KW - green insulation
KW - insulation material
KW - thermal conductivity
KW - thermogravimetric analysis
KW - waste management
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U2 - 10.3390/buildings12060866
DO - 10.3390/buildings12060866
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85132933752
SN - 2075-5309
VL - 12
JO - Buildings
JF - Buildings
IS - 6
M1 - 866
ER -
