Thermal and rheological behaviour of stearate-based phase change nanofluids

A comprehensive study has been performed on the thermal and rheological behaviour of two sets of isooctyl stearate (PureTemp 8, PT8) based nanofluids with different concentrations of spherical MgO nanoparticles (up to 15 wt%) and graphene nanoplatelets (up to 2 wt%). The results show that the presence of the nanomaterials does not significantly alter the phase change temperatures of the base fluids, although the latent heat decreases by 27% and 7.6% for 15 wt% MgO and 1.0 wt% GnP-based nanofluids, respectively. Both nanomaterials are found to increase the thermal diffusivity of the nanofluids. GnP-based suspensions have a higher thermal diffusivity than the MgO ones at similar nanomaterial concentrations. Rheological analyses show that MgO-PT8 nanofluids behave as a viscoplastic material (solid at zero shear rate); whereas the GnP-PT8 samples are viscoelastic (liquid at zero shear rate). MgO nanoparticles promote the formation of large fractal agglomerates, leading to a strong gel network of particles within PT8, while platelet-shaped GnP gives a fluid-like behaviour.

Automated summary

A comprehensive study has been conducted on the thermal and rheological behavior of two sets of isooctyl stearate (PureTemp 8, PT8) based nanofluids with different concentrations of MgO nanoparticles and graphene nanoplatelets. The presence of nanomaterials does not significantly affect the phase change temperatures of the base fluids. Both MgO and GnP nanomaterials increase the thermal diffusivity of the nanofluids, with GnP-based suspensions showing higher thermal diffusivity. Rheological analyses reveal that MgO-PT8 nanofluids behave as viscoplastic materials while GnP-PT8 samples are viscoelastic. MgO nanoparticles promote the formation of large fractal agglomerates, resulting in a strong gel network, while platelet-shaped GnP exhibits fluid-like behavior.