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Influence of polymer washing on thermal conductivity enhancement of Cu nanofluids
Author(s) -
Chandan Mohammed R.,
Shaik Aabid Hussain,
Kumar Hemanth,
Rahaman Ariful,
Bal Dharmendra K.,
Ponnusami Babu A,
Imran Mohd
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
asia‐pacific journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.348
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1932-2143
pISSN - 1932-2135
DOI - 10.1002/apj.2501
Subject(s) - nanofluid , thermal conductivity , polymer , materials science , nanoparticle , copper , chemical engineering , conductivity , composite material , nanotechnology , chemistry , metallurgy , engineering
This work aims at enhancing the thermal conductivity of base fluids (water and methanol) through successive washing of polymers from the surface of polyvinylpyrollidone (PVP)‐stabilized copper (Cu) nanoparticles. Cu nanofluids were successfully synthesized and characterized using transmission electron microscope and UV–vis spectrophotometer. Thermal conductivity of freshly prepared Cu nanofluid shows ~10% enhancements. The poor enhancement in thermal conductivity is due to the presence of thick polymer coating on the surface of nanoparticles. A new technique has been developed to erode the polymers from the nanoparticle surface by repeated washing and redispersion. After one‐time washing and redispersion, the thermal conductivity of nanofluid has been increased to 0.732 W/mK (~22% enhancements). Greater enhancement (~30.34%) has been achieved after three times continuous washing and redispersion. Finally, the experimental values of thermal conductivity were compared and validated against the existing Maxwell effective model.