Study of Thermal Transport in Nanoparticle Suspensions Using Forced Rayleigh Scattering (CAT#: STEM-ST-0066-YJL)

Introduction

Liquid suspensions containing nanometer-size 1 – 100 nm particles, or nanofluids, have received considerable attention in recent years. The development of stable nanofluids with greatly enhanced thermal conductivity would have a profound impact on a number of technologies with demanding heat transfer requirements. The study of nanofluids as potential heat transfer fluids began roughly ten years ago. The most widely studied nanofluids are dilute suspensions
a few percent by volume of metal or metal-oxide nanoparticles dispersed in common heat transfer fluids such as water or nonvolatile, organic liquids
e.g., ethylene glycol. The main focus of these experimental studies has been to investigate the dependence of thermal conductivity enhancement on particle type, size, and concentration.