Investigation of thermophysical properties of nanofluids containing poly(vinyl alcohol)-functionalized graphene

摘要

An experimental study was performed to evaluate the colloidal stability of water-based polyvinyl alcohol-functionalized few-layer graphene (water-based PVA-Gr) nanofluids and ethylene glycol-based polyvinyl alcohol-functionalized few-layer graphene (EG-based PVA-Gr) nanofluids. To this end, a liquid-phase exfoliation method was employed for mass production of graphene sheets (Gr). Then, a simple and novel method was introduced to do a direct functionalization of Gr with PVA. Surface functionality groups and morphology of PVA-Gr were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results consistently confirmed the formation of PVA functionalities on Gr, while the structure of GNP has remained relatively intact. Then, UV-Vis was employed to investigate the stability of PVA-Gr in water and EG. The easily miscible PVA functionalities formed a great colloidal stability for Gr sheets. As a second criterion for having a promising coolant, thermophysical properties were measured experimentally. The thermal conductivity, density and viscosity of the nanofluids at concentrations of 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1 mass% were experimentally measured. As compared to the base fluid, the water-based PVA-Gr nanofluids show a significant enhancement at different conditions, like representing -40% enhancement for 0.1 mass% at 40 A degrees C. This simple and efficient procedure may play an important role for mass production of hydrophilic Gr, which be able to disperse in different solvents.