USE OF COIR FIBRE-REINFORCED NATURAL RUBBER COMPOSITES FOR ROOFING INSULATION: A REVIEW
W. S. A. Sudarshana1*, L. K. T. Srimal2, and R. Gallage3
1Institute of Technology University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2,3University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
Session: Technical Session C
Abstract
In a building, most energy is consumed for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) process. In this process, the thermal comfort in the building is maintained in a way that is comfortable for the people inside the building. The roof of a building plays a critical role in the building's overall energy efficiency and thermal comfort. Compared to walls, the roof is directly exposed to the sun, making it a major source of heat gain. Therefore, adding an insulation layer to the roof can help control a percentage of the heat entering the building and reduce the energy spent on HVAC systems. As a solution, researchers have been searching for sustainable insulation materials. These materials are becoming popular because they are biodegradable, non-toxic, and have significantly low embodied energy during manufacturing. These types of sustainable insulation materials are typically produced by using lignocellulose fiber. Coir fiber is one of the lignocellulose fibers derived from coconut husk and is a renewable, abundant, and environmentally friendly raw material for manufacturing composites. Polymeric composites reinforced with natural fibers such as coir fiber have been developed in recent years and exhibit significant potential for various engineering applications due to their sustainability, low cost, low weight, low thermal conductivity and mechanical strength. However, adding a binder material such as natural rubber to the coir fiber is essential to create the final material. Then, the final composite material will be fully biodegradable. This research work provides an overview of current information on coir fiber and coir fiber reinforced natural rubber composites. The manufacturing of various matrices reinforced with coir fiber and the physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of these composites have been studied by several researchers and included in this review. With the help of these details, a research gap has been identified to optimize the porosity of the natural rubber composite with coir fiber reinforcement to preserve its strength and mechanical properties while minimizing thermal characteristics.
Keywords: coir fiber, composite material, natural rubber, roofing insulation, thermal conductivity
DOI: 10.64752/VQNA5605