Investigation of Physical Properties of Polymer Composites Filled with Sheep Wool

Abstract

Sheep farmers are currently facing an oversupply of wool and a lack of willing buyers. Due to low prices, sheep wool is often either dumped, burned, or sent to landfills, which are unsustainable and environmentally unfriendly practices. One potential solution is the utilization of sheep wool fibers in polymer composites. This paper focuses on the study of mechanical vibration damping properties, sound absorption, light transmission, electrical conductivity of epoxy (EP), polyurethane (PU), and polyester (PES) resins, each filled with three different concentrations of sheep wool (i.e., 0%, 3%, and 5% by weight). It can be concluded that the sheep wool content in the polymer composites significantly influenced their physical properties. The impact of light transmission through the tested sheep wool fiber-filled polymer composites on the quality of daylight in a reference room was also mathematically simulated using Wdls 5.0 software.

The Application of Sheep Wool in the Building Industry and in the Removal of Pollutants from the Environment

“…The effect of sheep wool incorporated in the amount of 0, 3 and 5% in epoxy, polyurethane, and polyester matrices on the damping of mechanical vibrations, sound absorption, light transmission and electrical conductivity was investigated by Vasina et al [40]. Like other authors, he found that the physical properties are significantly influenced by the wool content.…”

“…Vasina et al [40] An examination of the adhesion properties between non-woven plastic sheets and cement mortar. Bahij et al [41] How wool fibers can be separated into individual components.…”