Laser fabrication of Cu nanoparticles based nanofluid with enhanced thermal conductivity: Experimental and molecular dynamics studies

Khamliche, T; Khamlich, S.; Moodley, M.K.; Mothudi, B.M.; Henini, M.; Maaza, M.

Abstract

Nanofluids are engineered colloidal suspensions of solid nanoparticles in aqueous and non-aqueous base fluids with enhanced thermo-physical characteristics compared to conventional heat transfer fluids (HTFs). In this study, we report on the fabrication of copper nanoparticles-ethylene glycol (CuNPs-EG) nanofluid by using a simple one-step pulsed Nd:YAG laser ablation method to ablate the surface of a pure copper target in EG base fluid under ambient conditions. Structural and morphological analysis confirmed the fabrication of pure spherical shaped CuNPs with average diameter of ~7 nm. Thermal conductivity (k) investigations of CuNPs-EG nanofluid were conducted by using a computational approach where Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics (EMD) simulations integrated with Green-Kubo (EMD-GK) method was used. The obtained EMD-GK results for k were confirmed experimentally through a guarded hot-plate technique within the temperature ranges of 298–318 K. Interestingly, a relative enhancement (η) in the percentage of thermal conductivity of CuNPs-EG nanofluids obtained after an ablation time ta = 5 min was 15% at 318 K, while sample obtained after ta = 30 min showed an enhancement of ~24% in thermal conductivity. These obtained results confirmed the suitability of using a laser based ablation method to fabricate highly efficient nanofluids which could be used as alternatives for conventional HTFs in various heat transfer applications.

Citation

Khamliche, T., Khamlich, S., Moodley, M., Mothudi, B., Henini, M., & Maaza, M. (2021). Laser fabrication of Cu nanoparticles based nanofluid with enhanced thermal conductivity: Experimental and molecular dynamics studies. Journal of Molecular Liquids, 323, Article 114975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2020.114975

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 4, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 13, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021-02
• Deposit Date: Dec 19, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 14, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Molecular Liquids
• Print ISSN: 0167-7322
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 323
• Article Number: 114975
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2020.114975
• Keywords: Nanofluid, Laser ablation, Thermal conductivity, Nanoparticles, Heat transfer
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5157626
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167732220372172
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Laser fabrication of Cu nanoparticles based nanofluid with enhanced thermal conductivity: Experimental and molecular dynamics studies; Journal Title: Journal of Molecular Liquids; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2020.114975; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.