Nanofluids of the future

Abstract

Nanofluids are a new class of fluids engineered by dispersing nanometer-size structures (particles, fibers, tubes, droplets) in base fluids. The very essence of nanofluids research and development is to enhance fluid macroscale and megascale properties such as thermal conductivity through manipulating microscale physics (structures, properties and activities). Therefore, the success of nanofluid technology depends very much on how well we can address issues like effective means of microscale manipulation, interplays among physics at different scales, and optimization of microscale physics for the optimal megascale properties. In this chapter we review methodologies available to effectively tackle these central but difficult problems and identify the future research needs as well. The reviewed techniques include nanofluids synthesis through liquid-phase chemical reactions in continuous-flow microfluidic microreactors, scaling-up by the volume averaging, and constructal design with the constructal theory. The identified areas of future research contain microfluidic nanofluids, thermal waves, and constructal nanofluids. While our focus is on heat-conduction nanofluids, the methodologies are equally valid for the other types of nanofluids. The review could serve as a coherent, inspiring and realistic plan for future research and development of nanofluid technology.