Impact of different surfactants and ultrasonication time on the stability and thermophysical properties of hybrid nanofluids

Abstract

Graphene based nanofluids are getting more attention among researchers due to their exceptional thermal conductivity. In the present study, stable hybrid nanofluids were produced by dispersing graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) in a mixture of distilled water and ethylene glycol (DW/EG) using a two-step method. For comparison purpose, GnPs were dispersed into the same base fluid and labelled as mono nanofluid. The impact of different surfactants and sonication time on nanofluids' stability was determined by sedimentation method, zeta potential analysis, and absorbency test. It was observed that the addition of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) showed the highest degree of stability in all analyses, with minimal sedimentation up to 40 days. Thermophysical properties of nanofluids with CTAB were measured from 30 °C to 70 °C at 0.1, 0.075, 0.05, and 0.025 wt% concentrations of nanoparticles. The maximum thermal conductivity enhancement of base fluid was found to be 23.74% when 0.1 wt% of COOH-GnP was added at 60 °C. Hybrid nanofluid showed higher thermal conductivity than mono nanofluid at all concentration and temperature ranged from 30 to 50 °C. Both mono and hybrid nanofluids showed Newtonian behaviour in which shear stress increased linearly with increasing shear rate. Mono nanofluid with 0.1 wt% concentration showed the highest viscosity at 40 °C, which was 32.54% and 4.85% higher than base fluid and 0.1 wt% hybrid nanofluid, respectively. The enhanced properties of this hybrid nanofluid could be used as an alternate heat transfer medium in an automobile cooling system.