An invention aimed at addressing the shortcomings found in traditional acoustic and thermal insulation mortars, while also providing a use for industrial residues from pinus wood, has been granted a patent by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). The product, developed at Feevale University, is credited to Daiana Cristina Metz Arnold, Adriana Teresinha da Silva, Carolina Silveira Barlem Gemelli, Cassiano Kaiser, and Letícia Lange.

Common screed mortars are generally composed of cement, sand, and water to provide adhesion properties and rapid hardening. However, to achieve the necessary characteristics for thermal and acoustic insulation, additional elements such as EVA, polymers, wood ash, rice husks, and sawdust may be added to the mix. Once incorporated, many of these components have an undesirable feature: high water absorption.

Another deficiency of traditional mortars is highlighted by Daiana Arnold, one of the inventors and a professor in the Postgraduate Program in Materials Technology and Industrial Processes at Feevale. “Current mortars often fail to meet technical requirements for thermal and acoustic insulation. Sometimes they only meet thermal insulation needs but not acoustic ones, or vice versa,” she says.

The invention, which received its patent on May 21, uses pinus as its primary component. The result is a product with good sound wave absorption and thermal insulation properties, low water absorption, high tensile and compressive strength, good cost-effectiveness, and low environmental impact.