Impact of fiber length and surface modification on the acoustic behaviour of jute fiber

Abstract The use of plant fibers for acoustic applications in the industrial sector is increasing nowadays due to: their porous nature, hollow lumen structure, and the presence of Nano-fibrils. The current investigation aims to analyze the influence of jute fiber length and various chemical treatments on the sound absorption property. The sound absorption coefficient was measured by the Impedance tube method. From the results, it was found that 20 mm fiber length has the uppermost sound absorption coefficient at all frequencies, due to the increase in the number of air cavities and nanofibrils. Further, the 20 mm length fiber was surface modified by NaOH, NaHCO3 and Cr2SO4 respectively and the sound absorption coefficient of the surface modified fibers was analyzed. The result showed that among the various chemical treatments, alkali treated fiber has the maximum sound absorption coefficient than the other treated fibers. The SEM images revealed that the chemical modification causes changes in the morphology of fibers. In addition, the comparative study of the experimental and theoretical sound absorption coefficient showed good agreement between them.