Thermal and electrical conductivity enhancement of solar glycol-water mixture containing MWCNTs

In this investigation, the authors describe the thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity of solar glycol - water (50:50) mixture with MWCNTs. Gum Arabic was used as the surfactant to prepare a stable nanofluid suspension. The MWCNTs are dispersing with different volume concentrations of 0.2%, 0.4% and 0.6% prepared via a typical two-step methodology. The colloidal stability assessments were conducted through UV-vis spectrometer, zeta potential analyser, scanning electron microscopy analysis and pH metre. The maximum augmentation of thermal conductivity attained is ∼21.46% at a loading of 0.6 vol.% of MWCNTs in SG - water mixture at 50°C. However, the electrical conductivity of the prepared nanofluid linearly enhanced with increasing temperature. The electrical conductivity enhancements of ∼62.19% at a loading of 0.6 vol.% of MWCNTs in SG – water mixture at 50˚C. Results confirm that the SG-Water and MWCNTs based nanofluids can be used as a right replacement for the conventional liquids in various heat transfer applications.