Flame-retardant, ultralight, and superelastic electrospun fiber sponges for effective sound absorption

Traffic noise does great harm to the physical and mental health of humans, which has become the main source of noise pollution, making sound absorption materials highly in demand. Fibrous sound-absorbing materials are widely used in controlling traffic noise pollution; nevertheless, due to the monotonic internal structure and large fiber diameter, they suffer poor mechanical properties and sound absorption performance. Herein, we develop a credible way to create flame-retardant fibrous sound absorption sponges by humidity-assisted electrospinning and an in-situ crosslinking approach. The obtained fibrous sponges possess outstanding superelastic and hydrophobic properties. Most importantly, fluffy fiber networks endow sponges with good low-frequency sound-absorbing properties (noise reduction coefficient or NRC of 0.51) and lightweight features (density of 9 mg cm−3) compared with commercial and reported sound-absorbing materials. This work will shed light on future research in developing excellent sound-absorbing materials.