Improving the environmental performance of bedding products by using life cycle assessment at the design stage

Improvement of the environmental performance of processes and products is a common objective in industry, and has been receiving increased attention in recent years. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the potential environmental impact of two bedding products, a polyurethane foam mattress (PFM) and a pocket spring mattress (PSM). These two types are the most common mattresses used in Europe. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) shows that the PFM has a higher environmental impact than the PSM. For both products the main cause of environmental impact is the manufacturing process, respectively the polyurethane foam block moulding process for the PFM, and the pocket spring nucleus process for the PSM. A scenario analysis shows the possibility of reducing the environmental impact of the products’ life cycle using an alternative End-of-Life scenario, resorting to incineration rather than landfill. Two strategies were also studied in order to reduce the environmental impact of the PFM: (1) reutilization of foam that was sent to the waste system management, and (2) a 20% weight reduction of the polyurethane foam. The second strategy has proven to be the most effective.

Energy harvesting performance of piezoelectric electrospun polymer fibers and polymer/ceramic composites

The energy harvesting efficiency of electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride), its copolymer vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene and composites of the later with piezoelectric BaTiOon interdigitated electrodes has been investigated. Further, a study of the influence of the electrospinning processing parameters on the size and distribution of the composites fibers has been performed. It is found that the best energy harvesting performance is obtained for the pure poly(vinylidene fluoride) fibers, with power outputs up to 0.03 W and 25 W under low and high mechanical deformation. The copolymer and the composites show reduced power output due to increased mechanical stiffness. The obtained values, among the largest found in the literature, the easy processing and the low cost and robustness of the polymer, demonstrate the applicability of the developed system.