Multilayered graphene oxide impregnated polyurethane foam for ultimate sound absorbing performance: Algorithmic approach and experimental validation

•A multilayered graphene oxide-impregnated polyurethane foam (GO-PU) is proposed to maximize the sound absorption coefficient (SAC).•The average SAC was 0.90 for a 54.6 mm thick material, which showed the best sound absorption performance at a given thickness.•A theoretical method for deriving the maximum SAC was developed by modifying the elastic porous materials theory of Bolton et al.•Maps of the optimal arrangement by simulation provided a convenient way to apply the results of this study to various thicknesses.•Great potential of GO as an acoustic material was presented, and a novel method to control the acoustic performance was proposed.