A novel method of making PVF porous foam without using the pore forming agent

Different with the conventional method of manufacturing poly(vinyl formal) (PVF) porous foam by using the pore‐forming agents such as wheat or potato starches, a novel method without using the pore‐forming agent is introduced in this article. Through the help of images taken by a scanning electron microscope, the formation process of the present PVF foam will be discussed in terms of the spinodal decomposition (SD) phase separation principle. Additionally, the effect of poly(vinyl alcohol) concentration and reaction temperature on the pore structure of the PVF foam will be investigated. Moreover, the water adsorption capacities of the PVF foams obtained by the present method will be studied in details through the analyses of pore‐size distribution, mechanical modulus, and thermal property. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41270.