Ultralight and Resilient Electrospun Fiber Sponge with a Lamellar Corrugated Microstructure for Effective Low-Frequency Sound Absorption

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2019 Sep 25;11(38):35333-35342. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b12444. Epub 2019 Sep 16.

Abstract

Low-density 3D ultrafine fiber assemblies obtained from direct electrospinning enable promising applications in sound absorption fields but are often hindered by their poor structure stability. Here, we demonstrate an electrospun ultrafine fiber sponge with a microstructure-derived reversible elasticity and high sound absorption property, which is achieved by designing a hierarchical lamellar corrugated architecture that functioned as elastic units. The obtained electrospun fiber sponge can quickly recover to the original height even under the distortion from burdens 8900 times its weight. Particularly, the material can maintain its structural stability after 100 cycles at 60% strain. Moreover, the initial hierarchical structure and hydrophobicity of the prepared materials endow them with an ultralight property (density of 6.63 mg cm-3), superior low-frequency sound absorption, and excellent performance maintenance. The successful synthesis of these fascinating materials may provide new insights into the design of lightweight and efficient sound absorption materials.

Keywords: electrospinning; fiber sponge; sound absorption; super resilient; ultrafine fiber.