Augmenting the Insulating and Heat Transfer Properties of Silicone Oil with Filler Composite GO-CuO Nanoparticles for Transformer Applications

Nanofluids have attracted significant attention over the past decade due to the anomalous thermal conductivity in thermal management exhibited by nanofluids containing a low proportion of transition metal nanoparticles. In this work, a hybrid nanofluid graphene oxide (GO)-copper oxide (CuO) composite blended in silicone oil is prepared as a prospective alternative for heat transfer investigation. A simple and low-cost hydrothermal technique is used to fabricate the GO and GO-CuO nanocomposites. Sophisticated spectroscopical methods, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), are used to analyze the nanocomposite. The XRD patterns confirm the formation of CuO and the monoclinic structure of the GO-CuO nanocomposite. The FT-IR analysis confirms the presence of the functional groups including C=C, C-O, Cu-O, and Cu-C stretching frequencies. Morphological analysis reveals that CuO particles are deposited on the surface of the GO sheets, as confirmed by SEM and TEM. To prepare hybrid nanofluids, the appropriate amounts of GO and CuO are blended with silicone oil using a reflux technique with concentrations of 0.025 wt.%, 0.05 wt.%, and 0.075 wt.% using a two-step process. The thermal conductivity of nanoparticles containing silicone oil increased by up to 35.67% when compared to unadulterated silicone oil. Moreover, as silicone oil-based nanofluids have improved thermal characteristics, this work will aid in the development of unique hybrid nanofluids for industrial heat transfer applications.