A study on the application of PAN nanofiber-coated fabrics for noise control of vehicles

The aim of the present work was to investigate the sound absorption properties of polyester nonwoven fabrics coated with Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers in order to be used as sound absorptive materials in automotive industry. The effect of several variables on the sound absorption of such materials was investigated at the frequency range of 100-5000 Hz. Fabrics thickness, nanofiber layer enhancement and the amount of nanofibers deposition were chosen as variables. The electrospinning method equipped with rotating collector was used to produce the uniform layer of randomly oriented PAN nanofiber. Several physical and structural tests such as thickness, areal density and air permeability were carried out. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to evaluate the morphology of nanofiber layers. Impedance tube method was used to analyze the sound absorption coefficient of samples. The results showed that the sound absorption performance of samples will be increased by nanofiber enhancement with no weight and thickness penalty.