Box–Behnken experimental design for investigation of stability and thermal conductivity of TiO2 nanofluids

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of ultrasonication on the stability and thermal conductivity of TiO2 water nanofluids. A UV–Vis spectrophotometer was employed to determine the relative stability of nanofluids. Response surface methodology based on the Box–Behnken design was implemented to investigate the influence of power of sonication (20–80 %), time of sonication (2–20 min), and volume concentration (0.1–1 vol%) of nanofluids as the independent variables. Second-order polynomial equations were established to predict the responses, thermal conductivity, and stability of nanofluids with the intervals of 1 week and 1 month. The significance of the models was tested by means of analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimum stability and thermal conductivity of TiO2 nanofluids with various sonication power and time at volume concentrations of 0.1, 0.55, and 1 % were studied. In addition, a correlation between the stability and thermal conductivity enhancement was derived in this study. The results revealed that, at low concentrations, nanofluids would become stable by low power and short period of sonication; however, no enhancement was observed in the thermal conductivity. Conversely, at high concentrations, stability and high thermal conductivity of nanofluids coincided at 1 vol%.