TY - JOUR
TI - The effect of surfactant on stability and thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube based nanofluids
AU - Leong Kin Yuen
AU - Hanafi Nurfadhillah Mohd
AU - Sohaimi Risby Mohd
AU - Amer Noor Hafizah
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2016
VL - 20
IS - 2
SP - 429
EP - 436
PT - Article
AB - The addition of highly conductive substance such as carbon nanotubes into a  traditional heat transfer fluid will enhance the fluids’ thermal  conductivity. However, dispersion process of carbon nanotubes into base  fluids is not an easy task due to hydrophobic characteristic of its surface.  This study attempts to investigate the stability and thermal conductivity of  carbon nanotube based ethylene glycol/water nanofluids with and without  surfactants. Stability investigation was conducted through observation and  zeta potential measurement methods. As for the thermal conductivity, the  samples were measured based on transient line heat source. The results  showed that 0.01 wt.% of carbon nanotube based nanofluid, containing  0.01wt.% hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide possess highest zeta potential  value compared to the other tested samples. 0.5 wt. % of carbon nanotube  based nanofluids with gum arabic exhibit 25.7% thermal conductivity  enhancement.