Thermal conductivity of nanoscale colloidal solutions (nanofluids)

Publication Type
Journal Article
Authors
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.025901
Abstract

Researchers have been perplexed for the past five years with the unusually high thermal conductivity (k) of nanoparticle-laden colloidal solutions (nanofluids). Although various mechanisms and models have been proposed in the literature to explain the high k of these nanofluids, no concrete conclusions have been reached. Through an order-of-magnitude analysis of various possible mechanisms, we show that convection caused by the Brownian movement of these nanoparticles is primarily responsible for the enhancement in k of these colloidal nanofluids.

Journal
Phys. Rev. Lett.
Volume
94
Year of Publication
2005
Number
2
Pagination
025901
Organizations
Research Areas
Download citation