Nanofluids: synthesis, heat conduction, and extension

Abstract

We synthesize eight kinds of nanofluids with controllable microstructures by a chemical solution method (CSM) and develop a theory of macroscale heat conduction in nanofluids. By the CSM, we can easily vary and manipulate nanofluid microstructures through adjusting synthesis parameters. Our theory shows that heat conduction in nanofluids is of a dual-phase-lagging type instead of the postulated and commonly used Fourier heat conduction. Due to the coupled conduction of the two phases, thermal waves and possibly resonance may appear in nanofluid heat conduction. Such waves and resonance are responsible for the conductivity enhancement. Our theory also generalizes nanofluids into thermal-wave fluids in which heat conduction can support thermal waves. We emulsify olive oil into distilled water to form a new type of thermal-wave fluids that can support much stronger thermal waves and resonance than all reported nanofluids, and consequently extraordinary water conductivity enhancement (up to 153.3%) by adding some olive oil that has a much lower conductivity than water. Copyright © 2009 by ASME.