Issue 3, 2024

Coupling at the molecular scale between the graphene nanosheet and water and its effect on the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid

Abstract

Graphene nanofluid is a promising way to improve heat transfer in many situations. As a two-dimensional material, graphene's anisotropic thermal conductivity influences the heat transfer of nanofluids. In the present study, a nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is adopted to study the interaction between graphene nanosheets (GNSs) and liquid water in water-based graphene nanofluids. Consequently, the coupling interaction between the orientation and length of GNSs and the thermal conductivity of nanofluids is then investigated. We discover that the molecular thermal coupling between GNSs and water can effectively influence the orientation angle of the GNSs. A preferential orientation angle of the GNSs inside the nanofluid is then observed during heat transfer. The preferential orientation angle decreases with the GNS length and has no apparent relation with the size of heat flux in this study. The overall thermal conductivity of the nanofluid decreases as the orientation angle of the GNS rises. Increasing the GNS length not only reduces the preferential orientation angle but also improves the thermal conductivity along the graphene length direction. The thermal conductivity of the nanofluid along the graphene length direction increases from 0.414 to 4.085 W m K−1 as the length increases from 103 to 3274 A. Our results provide the fundamental knowledge of the heat transfer performance of graphene nanofluids.

Graphical abstract: Coupling at the molecular scale between the graphene nanosheet and water and its effect on the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Oct 2023
Accepted
11 Dec 2023
First published
03 Jan 2024

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024,26, 2402-2413

Coupling at the molecular scale between the graphene nanosheet and water and its effect on the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid

X. Pan, H. Jin, X. Ku, Y. Guo and J. Fan, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 2402 DOI: 10.1039/D3CP04896A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements