Framework reinforced orderly-woven superhydrophobic metal–carbon composites for efficient emulsion separation in harsh environments

The primary barrier to the widespread use of super-wetting materials is the surface's limited resistance to physical damage, which leads to poor mechanical qualities. In this study, framework-reinforced orderly-woven superhydrophobic metal spiral coil-carbon fibers composites (SMSC-CFsC) with a durable uniform micro-structure were prepared by nested carbon fibers into metal spiral coils cleverly and woven them into a three-dimensional porous material innovatively. The separation purity of the prepared metal–carbon composites on several commonly used industrial lubricating oil emulsions was better than 99.90 % and the flux was greater than 1000 L/m2h. More significantly, computational fluid dynamics was used to establish a simulation model for emulsion separation that revealed the real-time dynamic motion trajectory and volume changes of water droplets. Additionally, even after high-temperature, compression, wear, and corrosion experiments, it still showed dependable separation purity and stable flux. As a result, it has been demonstrated that the proposed metal–carbon composite has a long oil–water separation service life in harsh environments and has great potential for developing efficient and durable emulsion separation materials.