The effect of surfactants on heat transfer feature of nanofluids

Surfactants or dispersants are vital for preparing stable nanofluids and their influences may often be neglected during estimating the enhancement effect of nanofluids. In this letter, we report the experimental investigation on the influence of surfactant–sodium dodecyl benzoic sulfate (SDBS) on impingement heat transfer performance of nanofluids. The Cu–water nanofluids with three volume fractions and two mass concentrations of SDBS are involved. The experimental investigation reveals that the surfactant remarkably affects transport properties and heat transfer performance of nanofluids and suppresses heat transfer enhancement effect of suspended nanoparticles. The deterioration mechanism of heat transfer induced by the surfactant is discussed.