3D superhydrophobic sponge with a novel compression strategy for effective water-in-oil emulsion separation and its separation mechanism

•1,4-Conjugate reaction was explored to modify 3D sponge with superwetting property.•The pore sizes of the coated sponge could be rationally controlled by compression.•The compressed sponge showed excellent separation performance for emulsions.•The demulsification was discussed for fully understanding the separation mechanism.