Intriguingly high thermal conductivity increment for CuO nanowires contained nanofluids with low viscosity

Nanofluids offer the exciting new possibilities to enhance heat transfer performance. In this paper, experimental and theoretical investigations have been conducted to determine the effect of CuO nanowires on the thermal conductivity and viscosity of dimethicone based nanofluids. The CuO nanowires were prepared through a thermal oxidation method, and the analysis indicated that the as-prepared CuO nanowires had high purity, monocrystalline with a monoclinic structure and large aspect ratio compared to CuO nanospheres. The experimental data show that the thermal conductivity of the nanofluids increases with the volume fraction of CuO nanowires or nanospheres, with a nearly linear relationship. For the nanofluid with the addition of 0.75 vol.% CuO nanowires, the thermal conductivity enhancement is up to 60.78%, which is much higher than that with spherical CuO nanoparticles. The nanofluids exhibit typical Newtonian behavior, and the measured viscosity of CuO nanowires contained nanofluids were found only 6.41% increment at the volume fraction of 0.75%. It is attractive in enhanced heat transfer for application. The thermal conductivity and viscosity of CuO nanofluids were further calculated and discussed by comparing our experimental results with the classic theoretical models. The mechanisms of thermal conductivity and viscosity about nanofluids were also discussed in detail.