Photo: Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá
Researchers in Panama have developed an eco-friendly thermal insulation material with hopes of contributing to a new generation of building materials. Their research combined shredded rice husks, recycled and shredded newspaper, borax, and glue. In Panama, rice husk is considered agricultural waste and typically sent to landfills or incinerated. “Here we show that is possible to create alternative insulating material from recycled newspaper and rice husk,” said Nacarí Marín Calvo, a researcher at the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá. “The developed material has competitive thermal conductivity compared to many natural and recycled insulation materials.” Panama is known for its high humidity, and to use this material elsewhere, other tests would need to be done to see how the blend would perform in other conditions.
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