An optimization of superhydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride/zinc oxide materials using Taguchi method

This article is focused on the preparation and characterization of PVDF/ZnO composite materials. The superhydrophobic surface was prepared through spray coating of a mixture of PVDF polymer and ZnO nanoparticles on aluminum substrate. Stearic acid was added to improve the dispersion of ZnO. Taguchi's design of experiment method using MINITAB15 was used to rank several factors that may affect the superhydrophobic properties in order to formulate the optimum conditions. The Taguchi orthogonal array L9 was applied with three level of consideration for each factor. ANOVA were carried out to identify the significant factors that affect the water contact angle. Confirmation tests were performed on the predicted optimum process parameters. The crystallinity and morphology of PVDF-ZnO membranes were determined by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of Taguchi method indicate that the ZnO and stearic acid contents were the parameters making significant contribution toward improvement in hydrophobicity of PVDF materials. As the content of ZnO nanoparticles increased, the values of water contact angle increased, ranging from 122° to 159°, while the contact angle hysteresis and sliding angle decreased to 3.5° and 2.5°, respectively. The SEM results show that hierarchical micro-nanostructure of ZnO plays an important role in the formation of the superhydrophobic surface. FTIR results showed that, in the absence or present ZnO nanoparticles, the crystallization of the PVDF occurred predominantly in the β-phase.