A nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material (NePCM) is prepared by the dispersal of carbon nanotubes in 1-dodecanol. The objective of this experiment was to determine if the addition of nanoparticles could increase the thermal conductivity of the base PCM while resulting in a NePCM that would still have the required properties of a functional PCM. It was found that the thermal conductivity was enhanced through the addition of the carbon nanotubes; ...
Two series of nanofluids were prepared by the researchers, using water as the carrier fluid, and Al2O3 and TiO2 as the nanoparticles; up to 6% particle volume fraction was used. The thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of the nanofluids were measured using the transient plane source (TPS) technique, and dynamic viscosity was also measured. The amount of nanoparticle volume fraction affected the value of thermal conductivity, but the nanoparticle cluster ...