Effective ultrasonication process for better colloidal dispersion of nanofluid

Mahbubul I. M., Saidur R., Amalina M. A., Elcioglu E. B., Okutucu-Ozyurt T.

ULTRASONICS SONOCHEMISTRY, vol.26, pp.361-369, 2015 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 26
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2015.01.005
  • Journal Name: ULTRASONICS SONOCHEMISTRY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.361-369
  • Keywords: Nanofluid, Ultrasonication duration, Sonicator amplitude, Microstructure, Particle size distribution, Zeta potential, ULTRASOUND SONICATION, THERMAL-CONDUCTIVITY, VISCOSITY, ZNO
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Improving dispersion stability of nanofluids through ultrasonication has been shown to be effective. Determining specific conditions of ultrasonication for a certain nanofluid is necessary. For this purpose, nanofluids of varying nanoparticle concentrations were prepared and studied to find out a suitable and rather mono-dispersed concentration (i.e., 0.5 vol.%, determined through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses). This study aims to report applicable ultrasonication conditions for the dispersion of Al2O3 nanoparticles within H2O through the two-step production method. The prepared samples were ultrasonicated via an ultrasonic horn for 1-5 h at two different amplitudes (25% and 50%). The microstructure, particle size distribution (PSD), and zeta potentials were analyzed to investigate the dispersion characteristics. Better particle dispersion, smaller aggregate sizes, and higher zeta potentials were observed at 3 and 5 h of ultrasonication duration for the 50% and 25% of sonicator power amplitudes, respectively. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.