Statistical analysis of thermal conductivity of nanofluid containing decorated multi-walled carbon nanotubes with TiO2 nanoparticles

摘要

In this paper, we report for the first time the statistical analysis of thermal conductivity of nanofluids containing TiO₂ nanoparticles, pristine MWCNTs and decorated MWCNTs with different amounts of TiO₂ nanoparticles. The functionalized MWCNT and synthesized hybrid of MWCNTa€“TiO₂ were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM image confirmed that the ends of MWCNTs were opened during their oxidation of them in HNO₃ and TiO₂ nanoparticles successfully attach to the outer surface of oxidized MWCNTs. Thermal conductivity measurements of nanofluids were analysed via two-factor completely randomized design and comparison of data means is carried out with Duncana€?s multiple-range test. Statistical analysis of experimental data show that temperature and weight fraction have a reasonable impact on the thermal conductivity of all tested nanofluids (e??? = 0.05). The results also show that increased temperature and weight fraction leads to the increased thermal conductivity.