Experimental investigation of conduction and convection heat transfer properties of a novel nanofluid based on carbon quantum dots

Abstract

So far, many studies have been conducted on heat transfer nanofluids and various nanofluids have been synthesized and evaluated by different nanoparticles. In the present research, the use of biodegradable carbon quantum dots (CQDs) to synthesize heat transfer nanofluids was investigated for the first time. In fact, CQDs are a new generation of carbon nanoparticles and one of the advantages of which is their very small size that facilitates the prepared of nanofluids at very low concentrations with high stability. In the present research, CQDs were synthesized based on microwave method using commercial ammonium hydrogen-citrate as precursor. The nanofluid samples were synthesized based on car radiator coolant and CQDs at the concentrations of 100, 200, 500, and 1000 ppm. Thermal conductivity (k) and convection heat transfer (h) coefficients were investigated as the main features of the fluid's heat transfer characteristics. The obtained results for 200-ppm concentration indicated the improvement of k and h by 5.7% and 16.2%compared to the base fluid, respectively. Besides, the synthesized nanofluids had also significant stability and very low cost which are of great importance for industrial applications. Finally, the heat transfer process in the 200-ppm nanofluid was simulated by Ansys Fluent software.