Effect of copper nanoparticles on thermal behavior of water flow in a zig-zag nanochannel using molecular dynamics simulation

Abstract

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is one of the most common simulation methods which predict the dynamical and thermodynamical properties of atomic structures based on classical Newton's laws. In this study, the effect of copper nanoparticles on the thermal behavior of the fluid in zig-zag nanochannel was investigated using molecular dynamics simulation. In our simulations, water molecules were used to model the base fluid, and platinum atoms were used to model the nanochannel walls. To investigate the effects of copper nanoparticles on the base fluid, physical quantities such as potential energy, density, velocity, temperature profiles, and finally, the thermal conductivity has been reported. The results show that, by adding nanoparticles to the base fluid, the maximum density increases. On the other hand, the maximum velocity decreases from0.22°A/ps to 8°A/ps to. From the velocity behavior of the fluid particles, the temperature decreases from 363 K to 330 K. Furthermore, a study of the thermal conductivity of the simulated system by using the Green-Kubo method showed an increase in the thermal conductivity of water up to 0.679 W m−1 K−1. The increase of the nanofluid thermal conductivity is consistent with the increase in heat transfer, which can be a promising parameter in industrial applications.