Loading of Silver Nanoparticles onto Silica Sand Surface and Simulating of Heat Dissipation for Therapeutic Heat Applications

Abstract

To develop the heat storage media for therapeutic heat applications, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were loaded onto silica sand surface using chemical reduction method. The thermal properties of these two materials were combined and the loading efficiency was verified by using UV-Visible spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-Ray Diffraction Spectroscopy (XRD). Observation by SEM revealed that the silver nanoparticles were homogeneously immobilized onto the silica sand surface and XRD results confirmed the formation of nanocrystalline silver. The crystallite size calculated by Scherrer formula was about 20 nm. It was also found that the particles increased in size and partially agglomerated when the concentration of AgNO3 solutions increased. Furthermore, to estimate the appropriate quantity of the nanoparticles for heating pad application, the finite element simulation by ANSYS was applied. The simulation results showed that the thermal dissipation of the silica sand was improved after loading of the silver nanoparticles. It was also found that the thermal dissipation increased with the silver proportion but 1.50% of silver concentration are sufficient to provide a significant thermal effect.