The role of different parameters on the stability and thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube/water nanofluids

It is obvious that the applicability and efficiency of nanofluids (suspensions contained nanoparticles) are related to their high heat transfer coefficients, especially thermal conductivity. Many parameters affect this property including size, shape and source of nanoparticles, surfactants, power of ultrasonic, time of ultrasonication, elapsed time after ultrasonication, pH, temperature, particle concentration and surfactant concentration. Some of these parameters may have interaction effects. An accepted way for obtaining the optimized condition is based on the design of experiments and statistical analysis. In this paper we investigate the stability and thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube (CNT)/water nanofluids and propose the optimum condition for the production and application of nanofluids. It has been shown that the significant factors on the thermal conductivity and stability are not precisely similar to one another. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.