Thermal conductivity and electrical properties of hybrid SiO2-graphene naphthenic mineral oil nanofluid as potential transformer oil

Hybrid SiO2-graphene nanoparticles were synthesised by sol gel centrifugation technique under four different pH levels ranging from 9 to 12. Stability, thermal conductivity, viscosity and electrical conductivity of hybrid SiO2-graphene and pure graphene dispersed in naphthenic oil were investigated. Nanofluids were synthesied at three different nanoparticle concentrations (0.01, 0.04 and 0.08 wt%) while the temperature was varied from 20 degrees C to 100 degrees C. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), x-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer show successful coating of SiO2 on graphene surface. The growth units and size distribution of SiO2 nanoparticles increased with pH level. Moreover, the presence of SiO2 improved the dispersion behaviour of the nanofluid as confirmed by visual observation and UV-Vis studies. Zeta potential measurements show the hybrid nanofluids at pH 11 are most stable due to its optimum amount and size of SiO2 coated on graphene surface while at pH 12 shows least stability due to precipitation. The presence of SiO2 on graphene further enhanced the thermal conductivity by 80% at pH 9. Also, the viscosity of hybrid nanofluids was higher than pure graphene based nanofluids due to increase in density and particle size. Moreover, the addition of hybrid SiO2-graphene nanoparticles significantly reduced the electrical conductivity enhancement of base fluid from 557% to 97%.