Tannin-based foams: The innovative material for insulation purposes

Abstract

Tannin-based foams are black porous materials which have the main advantage of being up to 100% natural, lightweight, fire-resistant and with a low thermal conductivity. These properties are the most important for building insulation purposes and therefore tannin foams have attracted significant market and industrial interest. Tannin foams are also a versatile material that can be produced with tailored properties modifying the formulation components and the process parameters; however the brittleness and the relatively weak mechanical properties suggested the need for a supporting material. For this reason, tannin-foam-based sandwich boards have been successfully produced with various wood and wood engineered side-layers such as HDF, particleboards and OSB. The production of these composite materials is nowadays industrially possible without the need of any external adhesive. An innovative and interesting product for the new generation of green insulation materials has been developed.