Enhancing heat transfer in nanofluids by carbon nanofins

TL;DR

This paper investigates how attaching carbon nanotubes as nanofins to surfaces can significantly improve heat transfer efficiency, supported by molecular dynamics simulations showing high thermal boundary conductance.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach of using carbon nanotubes as nanofins to enhance heat transfer, with detailed thermal conductivity and interface conductance analysis.

Findings

Carbon nanotubes exhibit high thermal boundary conductance (~10^{-7} W/m^2K).

Molecular dynamics simulations confirm their effectiveness as nanofins.

Potential for improved thermal management in nanofluid applications.

Abstract

Nanofluids are suspensions of nanoparticles and fibers which have recently attracted much attention due to their superior thermal properties. Here, nanofluids are studied in the sense of nanofins transversally attached to a surface, so that dispersion within a fluid is mainly dictated by design and manufacturing processes. We focus on single carbon nanotubes thought as nanofins to enhance heat transfer between a surface and a fluid in contact with it. To this end, we first investigate the thermal conductivity of those nanostructures by means of classical non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. Next, thermal conductance at the interface between a single wall carbon nanotube (nanofin) and water molecules is assessed by means of both steady-state and transient numerical experiments. Numerical evidences suggest a pretty favorable thermal boundary conductance (order of $10^{-7}$ $[W m^{-2} K^{-1}]$) which makes carbon nanotubes ideal candidates for constructing nanofinned surfaces.