Investigation of Al₂O₃-MWCNTs hybrid dispersion in water and their thermal characterization

Abstract

Synthesis of water based Al2O3-MWCNTs hybrid nanofluids have been investigated and characterized. Al2O3-MWCNTs nanoparticles in weight proportion of 97.5:2.5 to 90:10 have been studied over 1% to 6% weight concentration. Dispersion quality of nanofluids is assured by additional synthesis process like acids treatment and grinding of MWCNTs by planetary ball mill. The effects of ground and non-ground MWCNTs over dispersion quality and thermal conductivity have been investigated. Sedimentation effect of hybrid nanofluids with time length has been studied by sample visualization and TEM micrographs. The augmentative absorbance and thermal conductivity of hybrid nanofluids have been compared with pure Al2O3/water nanofluids. The overall result shows that the enhancement in normalized thermal conductivity of hybrid nanofluids is still not so sharp though the absorbance and other qualities show much better comparing mono type nanofluids. Hybrid nanofluids with spherical particles show a smaller increase in thermal conductivity comparing cylindrical shape particles.