Laser nature dependence on enhancement of optical and thermal properties of copper oxide nanofluids

Abstract

The miniaturization of electronic devices and increasing industrial energy consumption demands the efficient cooling systems/cooling fluids. The state of the art refrigerants known as nanofluids are the promising coolant fluids. The nanofluids are expected to exhibit high thermal conductivity depending upon the nature of fluid, dispersed nanoparticles and stability of the dispersion. In this study, Copper and Copper oxide nanofluids (Cu/CuO-NFs) are synthesized via Laser ablation synthesis in Liquid (LAL) method. A Continuous Wave (CW) laser and a nanosecond pulsed laser were used for synthesis of Cu/CuO-NFs in deionized water; CW laser was employed first time for synthesis of Cu/CuO-NFs. Highly pure and crystalline copper oxide nanoparticles were prepared with average size of 25 nm and 10 nm exhibiting 29% and 41% enhancement in thermal conductivity synthesized by CW and pulsed laser, respectively. Moreover, the synthesized Cu/CuO-NPs exhibited the broad band gap as compared to the bulk material. Therefore, the synthesized nanofluids are the potential candidate for efficient heat transfer application.