Novel Torsional Taylor–Couette High-Shear Hydrodynamic Approach for 2D Materials Exfoliation

In this work, a novel, scalable torsional Taylor–Couette (TTC) rotor–stator processing system is introduced. In this method, a boundary-layer-dominated flow is maintained between the rotor and stator, generating high and controllable shear fields over a wide operating range. The system is demonstrated here for liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) of layered materials. LPE of layered materials has been widely explored as a scalable route for producing two-dimensional (2D) materials, with shear-based methods being particularly promising for large-scale processing. The proposed rotor–stator system consists of closely spaced alternating stationary and rotating discs that generates high shear flow fields in the discs’ gaps enabling layered materials exfoliation. Transient Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) based CFD simulations are performed to characterize the hydrodynamics and shear fields within the rotor–stator system. The hydrodynamic performance is evaluated for rotational speeds of 1,000 to 7,000 rpm and graphite–water mixture with 1–4 vol% concentration. The results predict that the system generates mean shear rates∼ 8.7  × 103 to 5.8 × 104s−1 , that exceed the threshold for exfoliation of graphite and other layered materials such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂), tungsten disulfide (WS₂), and black phosphorus (BP). In addition, increasing graphite concentration predicted an enhancement in wall shear stress by∼ 40% and promoted a more spatially uniform shear-rate distributions.