Comprehensive performance evaluation of Ti3C2 MXene/TiN composite nanofluids for photo thermal conversion

Abstract

The in-depth development of solar photothermal conversion will help to alleviate the energy crisis and promote the realization of the goal of “carbon neutralization.” Composite nanofluids have been paid more attention to in photothermal conversion because of their comprehensive properties. In this study, the performances of the water-based Ti3C2 MXene/TiN composite nanofluids in photothermal utilization were comprehensively tested and analyzed, then compared horizontally with the single-component nanofluids. The results showed that adding the TiN nanoparticles improved the stability of the composite nanofluids under light conditions. In addition, the composite nanofluids’ thermal conductivity and optical absorption capacity were positively correlated with the proportion of the Ti3C2 nanoparticles. The two materials showed a strong complementarity in the numerical simulation band. Moreover, the simulation results also showed that the optical properties of the composite nanofluids were related to the spatial arrangement between the particles. Based on the above factors, the 20 ppm Ti3C2 MXene/TiN = 7:3 composite nanofluid achieved the maximum photothermal conversion efficiency of 63.7%, which was 3.35% and 5.11% higher than that of the Ti3C2 MXene and TiN nanofluids, respectively. The photothermal conversion cost analysis showed that adding TiN nanoparticles reduced the usage cost of the composite nanofluids. This work provides an effective method for optimizing the photothermal conversion performance of nanofluids based on two-dimensional materials and provides a strategy for explaining the photothermal conversion mechanism with the help of micro-nano optical simulation.