Characterisation and zeta potential measurements of CuO–water nanofluids

Abstract

Nanofluids have emerged as a potential new-generation heat transfer fluids comprising of solid nanoparticles having typical sizes (1–100 nm) suspended in base fluids. The heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids are significantly influenced by thermophysical properties. In this work, CuO–H2O nanofluids were synthesized characterized and zeta potential was measured using Malvern zetasizer. Different weight concentrations (0.02, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 wt%) of nanofluids were synthesized and their effect of concentration on thermal conductivity was examined. Cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) was used as a surfactant. Characterization of the nanopowder samples were performed using XRD and HRTEM. Results showed that CuO–H2O nanofluids showed noticeable increment in the thermal conductivity when compared with water. Zeta potential results also showed that nanofluids are quite stable except the 0.5 wt%.