Experimental investigation of the effective electrical conductivity of aluminum oxide nanofluids

This paper reports an experimental work on the measurement of effective electrical conductivity of aqueous suspensions of aluminum oxide nanoparticles (nanofluids). Experiments were performed both as a function of volume fraction and temperature to examine the effects of their variations on the electrical conductivity of alumina nanofluids. The results indicate considerable enhancement of electrical conductivity with both increase in volume fraction and temperature. However, the dependence of the effective electrical conductivity on temperature is much less than the volume fraction.

Experimental investigations are carried out to study the effects of variations in the temperature and nanoparticle volume fraction on the effective electrical conductivity of alumina (Al2O3)-water nanofluid. It is observed that electrical conductivity of the nanofluid increases linearly with both temperature and volume fraction. The dependence of electrical conductivity enhancement on nanoparticle volume fraction is much stronger than nanofluid temperature.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide