Highly Expanded Open-cell Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Foams Achieved by Microcellular Foaming for Efficient Oil Adsorption and Thermal Insulation

Chao Wei; Jia-Long Chai; Lei Zhang; Zhao-Rui Xu; Gui-Long Wang

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3803-6

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Highly Expanded Open-cell Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Foams Achieved by Microcellular Foaming for Efficient Oil Adsorption and Thermal Insulation

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-09-10

- Highly Expanded Open-cell Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Foams Achieved by Microcellular Foaming for Efficient Oil Adsorption and Thermal Insulation
- Highly Expanded Open-cell Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Foams Achieved by Microcellular Foaming for Efficient Oil Adsorption and Thermal Insulation
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science 2026年44卷页码：1-12
- Affiliations：
  
  a.State Key Laboratory of Advanced Equipment and Technology for Metal Forming, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
  b.Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
  c.Linyi Huafeng Seal Technology Co., Ltd., Linyi 276628, China
- Author bio：
  
  xuzhaorui@mail.sdu.edu.cn (Z.R.X.)
  guilong@sdu.edu.cn (G.L.W.)
- Funds：
  
  This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52675467 and 52605568), Shandong Provincial Key Research and Development Program (Results to Market) (No. 2026CGZSC0114), Matching Support Program for National Leading Talents in Shandong Province (No. 2022GJJLJRC-01), Funding Project of Jinan City's New Twenty Items for Colleges and Universities (No. 202333038), and Shandong University Distinguished Professor Program.;The authors declare no interest conflict.The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3803-6
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2026-05-15，
  
  录用：2026-07-03，
  
  网络首发：2026-09-10，
  
  纸质出版：2026-08
- Accepted：
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Wei, C.; Chai, J. L.; Zhang, L.; Xu, Z. R.; Wang, G. L. Highly expanded open-cell poly(vinylidene fluoride) foams achieved by microcellular foaming for efficient oil adsorption and thermal insulation. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3803-6

Chao Wei, Jia-Long Chai, Lei Zhang, et al. Highly Expanded Open-cell Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Foams Achieved by Microcellular Foaming for Efficient Oil Adsorption and Thermal Insulation[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-12.
Wei, C.; Chai, J. L.; Zhang, L.; Xu, Z. R.; Wang, G. L. Highly expanded open-cell poly(vinylidene fluoride) foams achieved by microcellular foaming for efficient oil adsorption and thermal insulation. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3803-6 DOI：

Chao Wei, Jia-Long Chai, Lei Zhang, et al. Highly Expanded Open-cell Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Foams Achieved by Microcellular Foaming for Efficient Oil Adsorption and Thermal Insulation[J/OL]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 441-12. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3803-6.

摘要

Abstract

Environmental protection and management are crucial to sustainable development. Microcellular polymer foams with open-cell structures have attracted significant attention for applications in oil-spill remediation and thermal management owing to their low density

large specific surface area

high adsorption capacity

and supe

rior thermal insulation. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is a promising candidate material because of its high durability

hydrophobicity

flame retardancy

and environmental resistance. However

the preparation of high-performance PVDF foams with open-cell structures is limited by their insufficient melt strength following crystal melting and narrow melting window. In this study

a green and efficient microcellular foaming strategy based on molten-crystalline transient regulation was employed to fabricate PVDF foams with high expansion ratios and highly open-cell structures. This strategy enables the precise regulation of the PVDF melt strength across an extended crystallization temperature range

thereby achieving excellent foamability. The resulting PVDF foams exhibited a high expansion ratio of 33.4

a significantly broadened foaming window of 120–160 °C

and a maximum open-cell content of 94.7%. These foams demonstrate outstanding comprehensive properties

including a low thermal conductivity of 31.26 mW∙m

–1

∙K

–1

high oil adsorption capacities ranging from 13.7 g∙g

–1

to 28.0 g∙g

–1

as well as good cyclic adsorption stability and compression performance. This work provides a green and efficient strategy for constructing high-performance open-cell PVDF foams

demonstrating promising potential for broad applications

such as oil-spill cleanup and thermal insulation.

关键词

Keywords

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