Experimental investigation of dispersion characteristics and thermal conductivity of various surfactants on carbon based nanomaterial

The surfactants sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and dodecyl betaine (DB) are used in graphene and carbon nano-tube (CNT) aqueous solutions, to develop an improved method that increases dispersion, creates long-term stability, and increases thermal characteristics. To evenly disperse the nanoparticles in the base liquid, an ultrasound was applied for 40 m. The nanoparticle dispersion of solutions was compared using UV spectroscopy. Zeta potential was used to indicate the colloidal stability of each solution. The thermal conductivities of the nanofluid solutions were measured using a transient hot wire method, and the three different surfactants were compared Good stability and nanoparticle dispersion was observed for nanofluids with surfactants. However, the thermal conductivities of the nanofluid solutions decreased with increasing surfactant concentrations. Carbon-based nanofluids with SDS had better thermal conductivity than nanofluids with other surfactant dispersants. We found the nanofluid has less weight percent of surfactant have better heat transfer than without surfactant. However, DB produced better dispersion than other surfactants, and carbon-based nanofluids with SDBS and SDS have anionic surfactant both had a better stability than nanofluids has amphoteric surfactant DB.