1. Introduction
Numerous thermal applications utilize water as a heat transfer fluid. Sometimes, ethylene glycol (EG) is added to water as the mixture of EG/water acquires anti-freeze and anti-boil properties. Generally, this mixture is used for heat transfer applications in car radiators, solar cells, etc. in areas where the surrounding is too cold, which freezes water [
1,
2]. This mixture provides us with a large range of temperatures for heat transfer applications; however, this mixture has low thermal conductivity and, hence, a low rate of heat transfer. The concept of nanofluid (adding nanoparticles to conventional heat transfer fluid) is helpful in improving the thermal conductivity of EG/water systems.
High thermal conductivity and thermal stability of CNT make it a viable option for the preparation of CNT based EG/water nanofluid [
3,
4,
5,
6,
7]. A major issue with the use of CNT nanofluid is the aggregation of CNT in the base fluid due to its high aspect ratio and strong van der Waals interaction [
8,
9,
10]. Various researchers prepared CNT (EG/water) nanofluid by using surfactants. Kumarsen et al., 2012 [
11] prepared 0.45 vol% CNT (EG/water) nanofluid by 30 min stirring and 90 min sonication. They utilized SDBS as a surfactant for proper dispersion and reported an enhancement of 19.73% in thermal conductivity. Sandhu et al., 2016 [
12] prepared 0.1 vol% CNT nanofluid by 80 min sonication. They utilized GA as a dispersant and reported a stability of 39 days and an enhancement of 28% in thermal conductivity. Similarly, Ganeshkumar et al., 2017 [
13] prepared 0.9 wt% of CNT (EG/water) nanofluid by using SDBS as a surfactant. The sample was stirred for 20 min and sonicated for 180 min for homogenous dispersion of CNT. They reported an enhancement of 11% in thermal conductivity. Although using surfactants is an easier and more cost-effective way of preparing nanofluids, using surfactants at higher temperatures is not feasible as they degrade at higher temperatures. Additionally, excessive foaming is also a problem while using surfactants as a dispersing agent. Furthermore, surfactant particles increase thermal resistance between CNT and the base fluid, which may limit the enhancement of thermal conductivity. Therefore, various researchers prepared nanofluid without surfactants.
Izadi et al., 2018 [
4] worked in a range of 0.05 to 1 vol% of CNT without surfactants by using 5–6 h sonication in an EG/water mixture and reported non-Newtonian behavior of nanofluid. Soltanimehr and Afrand, 2016 [
14] prepared nanofluid by dispersing (0.025–1 vol%) FCNT in EG/water (40:60) with 2.5 h magnetic stirring followed by 6 h sonication. They reported an enhancement of 34.7% in thermal conductivity as compared to the base fluid. Mirabagheri et al., 2018 [
15] prepared nanofluid by using (0.25–0.8 vol%) FCNT in EG/water (20:80) by using 2.5 h stirring and 6 h sonication. They reported 27.3% enhancement in thermal conductivity. They reported that the amount of CNT and percentage of EG and water affect the thermal conductivity noticeably. Yan et al., 2020 [
16] prepared nanofluid by using (0.075–1.2 vol%) ZnO-MWCNT hybrid in EG/water (20:80) by 120 min magnetic stirring and 300–360 min sonication and reported an enhancement in viscosity with volume fraction and decrement in viscosity with temperature increment. Esfe et al., 2023 [
17] prepared nanofluid by using MWCNT-TiO
2, EG/water (50:50) by 3 h stirring and 5 h sonication and reported 36.30% enhancement in thermal conductivity and 2 weeks stability. Shahsavani et al., 2018 [
18] prepared COOH-MWCNT nanofluid by 2 h mixing and 5–6 h sonication for studying the rheological behavior of nanofluid. They reported that viscosity increases with an increase in solid volume fraction while a decrease was observed with an increase in temperature. Dekhogi et al., 2017 [
19] prepared COOH-SWCNT nanofluid by 2.30 h stirring and 6 h sonication and reported 10 days of stability. According to this study, the thermal conductivity increases with volume fraction and temperature. Bagheri et al., 2018 [
20] prepared ZnO-MWCNT nanofluid by 2 h stirring and 5 h sonication and reported an enhancement of 30% at 1.2 vol% and a stability of 1 week. Moradi et al., 2019 [
21] prepared MWCNT-TiO
2 nanofluid by 2 h stirring and 5.5 h sonication. They reported an enhancement of 34% at 1 vol% CNT. Eshgarf et al., 2016 [
22] synthesized nanofluid of MWCNT-SiO
2 via 2 h stirring and 5–6 h sonication and studied the viscosity at different shear rates.
The literature showed that researchers supply sonication energy for a longer duration for preparing CNT nanofluid. Preparation of nanofluid via long hour sonication is a time- and energy-consuming process; additionally, it may deform the structure of CNT [
23].
Apart from this, none of these research articles has discussed the role of the preparation method and the nature of interactions responsible for stabilization of nanofluid. Thus, it is imperative to understand the nature of EG/water and CNT for preparation of a stable nanofluid. Dispersing CNT in EG is easier in comparison to its dispersion in water owing to π–π interactions between CNT and EG. Therefore, CNT dispersion in EG first and then in the subsequent addition of water appears as a superior approach for preparing CNT antifreeze nanofluid in EG/water. A similar approach was used by Yadav et al., 2023 [
24] for synthesizing CNT nanofluid in (60:40) EG/water. EG/water (50:50) has lower viscosity and cost in comparison to EG/water (60:40) ratio. Therefore, this article prepared CNT antifreeze nanofluid with (50:50) EG/water. No research article in the literature discusses and compares the results of nanofluid prepared by conventional method (Method 1) and modified method (Method 2) at this ratio. Therefore, preparing nanofluids by using this ratio will provide new information to researchers working in the field of heat transfer. The nanofluid prepared by Method 2 showed better stabilization and physical–chemical properties at lower sonication time; therefore, this can be seen as a viable option of preparing nanofluid from a commercial perspective.
2. Material and Method
2.1. Materials
Ad Nano technology Pvt. Ltd. Karnataka, India provided COOH functionalized MWCNT (OD = 50–80 nm, ID = 5–15 nm, length = 10–20 m, specific surface area = 200 g/mL, density = 2.1 g/mL) with a purity of 95%. Thermo Fisher Scientific India Pvt. Ltd. provided EG 98% pure (Molecular weight = 62.07 (g/mol), density = 1113.2 (kg/m3)). Easy-Still Mark 2000 DDQ XL horizontal distillation unit) was used to double-distill water. Labman LMUC-3 ultrasonicator bath-sonicator with power = 100 W, frequency = 40 kHz, was utilized to disperse CNT in the base fluid. Shimadzu ATX224, (Shimadzu Philippines manufacturing. Inc) digital weighting balance with accuracy up to 1 mg was utilized to weigh CNT. As a base fluid, 50:50 (EG/water) mixture was utilized.
2.2. Methodology
Nanofluid was synthesized using two techniques as described below:
2.2.1. Preparation of Nanofluid by Conventional Method (Method 1)
CNT nanofluids with different concentrations of CNT (0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.075 w/v%) were formulated by this method. The concentration range was selected based on their stability. Initially, 50:50 EG/water was mixed in six bottles by adding 50 mL water and 50 mL EG and stirring for about 1 min by a glass rod. Next, the required amount of CNT was added to each bottle and ultrasonication was carried out in the temperature range of 30–40 °C for varied durations (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 h). The absorbance of samples was recorded and plotted by originPro 8.5.0 SR1b161 software. These nanofluids were used for further studies.
2.2.2. Preparation of Nanofluid by Modified Method (Method 2)
CNT nanofluids with different concentrations of CNT (0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.075 w/v%) were again made with Method 2 by adding the requisite quantity of CNT to 50 mL EG and conducting sonication for S0 time period. Thereafter, 50 mL water was added and it was again subjected to a second slot of sonication for Sf time period. Various combinations of S0 (40, 50, 60 and 70 min) and Sf (30, 60 and 90 min) were tried to optimize the nanofluid. The absorbance was recorded at each combination and plotted by origin software. Ultrasonicator temperature was fixed in 30–40 °C range. These nanofluids were used for further studies.
2.3. Characterization
Absorbance of the prepared nanofluids was recorded by UV-vis spectrophotometer (HITACHI U-2190) (Hitachi High Technology Tokyo, Japan) for estimating the stability of the nanofluids. Zetasizer Nano ZS (Malvern RDET 48125) (Malvern Instrument limited, United Kingdom) was employed to record the particle size of the prepared nanofluids. Thermal conductivity was recorded by Thermal Property Analyzer (Decagon Inc., Pullman, WA, USA) using a KS-1 single-needle (60 mm long and 1.3 mm diameter) sensor. For error estimation, the instrument was calibrated using glycerin. The measurements were within 98% accuracy. Rotational rheometer (Anton Paar MCR-102) (Anton Paar Austria GmbH) was used to measure the dynamic viscosity at a variable shear rate of 10–100/s. Calibration was performed by BW 20 oil at 30 °C as per national standards and uncertainty was 0.25%. The Pak and Cho correlation [
25], based on mixing theory (Equation (1)), was used to estimate theoretical density of the nanofluids:
Experimentally, density was measured by a pycnometer. Uncertainty was ±0.005%. Three concordant readings for every sample ensured accuracy and repeatability. The average values of these experimental data were used in Equation (2) to calculate density:
Advance neo 500, Bruker NMR spectrophotometer (Bruker, Germany) and Tensor 37, Bruker FTIR spectrophotometer (Bruker, Germany) were used for NMR and FTIR studies, respectively.
5. Conclusions
In this study, stable CNT antifreeze nanofluid was prepared in 50:50 EG/water without surfactants and their physical–chemical properties were investigated. Nanofluid was prepared by two methods, first by the conventional method (Method 1) and second by a modified method (Method 2) in a concentration range of 0.001 to 0.075 w/v%. Both Method 1 and Method 2 are successful in preparing stable nanofluids with enhanced thermal conductivity. These nanofluids remain stable without the addition of any surfactant, thus solving the problem of foaming. These nanofluids could be useful in a large range of temperatures including cold (subzero) areas for heat transfer applications. Thermal conductivity of both nanofluids increases linearly with concentration and their stability decreases with concentration. The conclusions of the aforementioned study are listed below:
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Method 2 requires less time (1.5 h) for preparation of CNT antifreeze nanofluid in EG/water as compared to Method 1 (5 h).
The nanofluid prepared by Method 2 was more stable, having smaller particle sizes as shown by UV-vis and DLS data, respectively. This means better dispersion was obtained by this method.
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The preparation method plays an important role in stabilization of nanofluid. It was found that noncovalent interactions are responsible for stabilization of CNT nanofluid.
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A higher enhancement in thermal conductivity was observed in the case of Method 2 (20%) in comparison to Method 1 (17%).
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A 7.4% greater increase in viscosity was seen in the case of nanofluid prepared by Method 1 in comparison to Method 2 at 100/s shear rate.
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In both nanofluids, a marginal difference is seen in density as compared with the base fluid.
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This study provides an alternate way of producing CNT antifreeze nanofluid in EG/water system, without the use of surfactant or the need of long term sonication. The better way of preparing such type of nanofluids is to first disperse CNT in EG, which has a higher capability of dispersing CNT, followed by the addition of water.
Nanofluid prepared by Method 2 showed greater stability, enhanced thermal conductivity and lower viscosity in less sonication time. Therefore, Method 2 is a time-saving and better approach for the preparation of CNT nanofluid in EG/water mixture. Thus, the outcome of this study added new information to the scientific literature and will be very helpful for the forthcoming studies on heat transfer and material science.