Fabrication and acoustic absorption properties of electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofiber membranes

Abstract As noise pollution becomes an increasingly important environmental issue, the development of advanced materials for noise reduction has attracted widespread attention. Nanofiber membranes, due to their high specific surface area, low density, and unique porous structure, exhibit excellent sound absorption performance, especially in the mid-to-low frequency range. In this study, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber membranes with different mass fractions were fabricated using the electrospinning technique to investigate their sound absorption properties. The acoustic characteristics of the nanofiber membranes were analyzed through experiments and COMSOL simulation. The results showed that the resonant absorption frequency shifted towards lower frequencies with the increase in cavity size. The PAN nanofiber membrane with an 18% mass fraction exhibited the highest porosity due to its unique structure, resulting in an excellent sound absorption coefficient at the same thickness and good mechanical properties. Therefore, the 18% PAN nanofiber membrane is considered a promising material for noise reduction in practical applications.