It has been demonstrated there exists an interfacial nanolayer at the nanoparticles/fluid interface, and the nanoparticles in the base fluid aggregate easily and form clusters. As a result, both the interfacial nanolayer and the mutual interaction between nanoparticles become important. To account for the interfacial nanolayers, we first generalize differential effective dipole approximation to obtain the equivalent thermal conductivity of the coated nanoparticles with graded nanolayers. Then we employ multiple image method to investigate the effect of mutual interaction between nanoparticles on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Analytical formulae allow us to check the effect of nanolayer thickness, particle size, and mutual interaction. Numerical results show that when nanoparticles close up and even get touched, the effective thermal conductivity is slightly enhanced in comparison with that predicted from Maxwell–Garnett theory. The nanolayer properties also play a more important role in the conductivity enhancement. In addition, theoretical results on the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids are in good agreement with experimental data.
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15 April 2008
Research Article|
April 16 2008
Thermal conductivity of nanofluids: Effects of graded nanolayers and mutual interaction
X. F. Zhou;
X. F. Zhou
1Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Department of Physics,
Suzhou University
, Suzhou 215006, China
2Department of Physics,
Southeast University
, Nanjing 210096, China
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: leigao@suda.edu.cn.
J. Appl. Phys. 103, 083503 (2008)
Article history
Received:
October 08 2007
Accepted:
February 07 2008
Citation
X. F. Zhou, L. Gao; Thermal conductivity of nanofluids: Effects of graded nanolayers and mutual interaction. J. Appl. Phys. 15 April 2008; 103 (8): 083503. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2904924
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