Robust superhydrophobic Ni-Co electrodeposited carbon felt for hot water repellency and controllable oil/water separation

This study proposes a new recipe to manufacture robust superhydrophobic porous materials with magnetic properties that repel hot water. Through galvanostatic electrodeposition, the surface of carbon fibers in the carbon felt is entirely covered by the Ni-Co alloy coating with nano-protrusions and a thickness of about 2 mu m. Under thermal annealing at 60 degrees C, the resulting surface demonstrates diminishing wettability over time, and even superhydrophobicity after 12 h treatment. Meanwhile, when subjected to high compression force and cyclic abrasion, the as-prepared carbon felt displays robust superhydrophobicity. Due to the high porosity and fibrous structure, the Ni-Co coated carbon felt also exhibits high repellency to hot water as high as 90 degrees C. In addition, the newly developed superhydrophobic carbon felt can be employed for oil/water separation in complex structures by controlling its movement through a magnet. The employed strategy can help reduce the potential pollution caused by environmentally hazardous low surface energy substances when using superhydrophobic materials and exhibit promising applications in oil/water separation fields for special scenes, e.g., hot liquids and intricate pipelines.

Automated summary

This study presents a new method to create durable superhydrophobic porous materials with magnetic properties that can repel hot water. Carbon fibers in a carbon felt are coated with a Ni-Co alloy layer using galvanostatic electrodeposition, resulting in a surface with nano-protrusions and a thickness of about 2 μm. After thermal annealing, the surface becomes increasingly hydrophobic and achieves superhydrophobicity after 12 hours. The prepared carbon felt also demonstrates robust superhydrophobicity under high compression force and cyclic abrasion, making it suitable for various applications, including oil/water separation in complex structures.