Composite panels utilizing microdust and coir pith for eco-friendly construction solutions

Addressing the adverse environmental impact from textile waste disposal in landfills or incineration necessitates the recycling and reutilization of textile waste. This research attempts to create a composite material tailored for building thermal insulation application using cotton microdust (CMD) generated from the yarn spinning industry combined with coir pith (CP), a waste from coir industry .The compression moulding of microdust and coir pith using low melt temperature resin resulted in strong composite panels. Microdust and coir pith ratios were changed from 70:0 to 0:70 while 30% resin was used in all cases to prepare 6 mm and 10 mm thick panels. The mechanical properties and thermal conductivity were investigated. The thermal resistance improved while the strength reduced with the increase in coir pith. Thermal resistance of these waste derived sustainable partially (70%) biodegradable panels expressed in R value was in the range 0.1185-0.29585 K.m2/W and these values are far superior than the commercial non biodegradable synthetic panels of same thickness used in the housing sectors.