Optimisation and Experimental Analysis of Superhydrophobic Characteristics of Solvent‐Free Sustainable Porous PVDF Nanocomposite Foams for Emerging Applications

ABSTRACT The development of innovative superhydrophobic materials with functional surfaces is currently welcomed in various emerging applications of applied science and engineering. Exclusively, the study of fabricating hydrophobic functional polymers like Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) in the form of membranes, thin films, and open‐cell porous structured foams for various applications has emerged as a subject of great interest to the research community. This study explores the development of solvent‐free superhydrophobic sustainable porous structured PVDF nanocomposite foams incorporated with a combination of silver (Ag), Barium titanate (BaTiO 3 ), and Graphene (Gr) fillers by the sacrificial template method for various advanced applications. In this study, Sodium chloride (NaCl) was used as a sacrificial templating agent, Gr and BaTiO 3 nanofillers were used to increase the surface roughness and the polar nature of the PVDF foams. To optimize the conditions in terms of the optimal weight ratio of nanofillers and create a super hydrophobic foam with maximum water contact angle (WCA), the response surface methodology (RSM) method of central composite design (CCD) model was carried out, and WCA was defined as a response for the design. The experimental results revealed that the sample with 1.5 g of Ag/1.5 g of BaTiO 3 and 0.2 g of Gr nanofiller and a porosity percentage of 94.7 achieved a maximum WCA value of 153.6°. This study establishes that the fabricated superhydrophobic PVDF foams are suitable for various emerging and advanced applications of oil–water separation, electromagnetic shielding, thermal insulation, smart wearable sensors, and portable energy harvesting devices.