Nature Communications (Oct 2024)

Mechanism of airborne sound absorption through triboelectric effect for noise mitigation

  • Jingcheng Li,
  • Yasmin Mohamed Yousry,
  • Poh Chong Lim,
  • Seeram Ramakrishna,
  • Kui Yao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53847-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Abstract Mitigating broadband noise with passive airborne sound absorbers has been a long-lasting challenge, particularly for low-frequency anthropogenic sounds below kilohertz with long wavelengths, which require bulky materials for effective absorption. Here, we propose a strategy that utilizes local triboelectric effect and in-situ electrical energy dissipation mechanism for airborne sound absorption. This approach involves a fundamentally different mechanism that converts airborne sound into electricity for energy dissipation, in contrast to conventional mechano-thermal energy conversion mechanisms. We establish an equivalent acoustic impedance model to provide theoretical analysis of the underlying sound absorption mechanisms, with a theoretical maximum mechano-electro-thermal coupling efficiency approaching 100% under optimal conditions. We design fibrous triboelectric composite foam materials accordingly and show their substantially boosted acoustic absorption performance experimentally, where the adoption of diverse triboelectric material pairs validates that a larger difference in material charge affinities intensifies the local triboelectric effect and results in higher acoustic absorbing performance.