Ti3C2Tx MXene contained nanofluids with high thermal conductivity, super colloidal stability and low viscosity

Nanofluids as heat transfer fluids have shown huge potential in heat exchange systems. How to balance effective thermal conductivity, dispersion stability and viscosity has become one of crucial issues for the application of nanofluids. MXene nanosheets with high aspect ratio coupled with high thermal conductivity and hydrophilic properties are expected to be potential fluids fillers. In this study, comprehensive performance of ethylene glycol (EG) based nanofluids containing multilayer and delaminated single layer Ti3C2Tx MXene are investigated in detail. The thermal conductivity of nanofluids with 5 vol% of multilayer and single layer Ti3C2Tx increase by 53.1% and 64.9% compared with EG, respectively. It is interesting that the viscosity of 1 vol% of MXene nanofluids is much lower than those of graphene and multi-walled carbon nanotube with 0.1 vol% due to the excellent self-lubricating properties. Single layer Ti3C2Tx-EG nanofluids also exhibit excellent stability and no obvious sedimentation in 30 days. The detailed study on MXene nanofluids will provide a strategy for heat transfer fluids development.