Development and characterization of Al2Cu and Ag2Al nanoparticle dispersed water and ethylene glycol based nanofluid

Nanofluids offer excellent scope of enhancing thermal conductivity of common heat transfer fluids. In the present study, we have synthesized Al2Cu and Ag2Al nanoparticles by mechanical alloying, prepared nanofluids by dispersing about 0.2–1.5 vol.% these nanoparticles in water and ethylene glycol, characterized the size/microstructure of nanoparticles by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, and measured the thermal conductivity of nanofluid using a modified thermal comparator. The results indicate that the present nanofluids records 50–150% improvement in thermal conductivity. Both experimental results and analytical study indicate that the degree of enhancement strongly depends on identity/composition, size, volume fraction and shape (aspect ratio) of the dispersed nanoparticles.