Thermal conductivity and structuring of multiwalled carbon nanotubes based nanofluids

the thermal conductivity of OH functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube and its composites with Ag, Au and Pd in water, ethylene glycol and ethylene glycol-water (60:40 vol%) mixtures is studied using a combined experimental and theoretical approach. The experimental study was carried out in the 0.01 to 0.20 solid mass fraction range from 10 degrees C to 60 degrees C. The results show a large effect of the considered solvent on the thermal conductivity as well as increasing values with solid mass fraction and temperature. Artificial neural network (ANN) methods were successfully applied for the prediction of thermal conductivity of the considered nanofluids. The nanoscopic structuring of the studied nanofluids was analyzed by using molecular dynamics simulations, with particular attention to the nanotubes' solvation as well as the changes in the base fluids by the presence of the nanomaterials. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V.