Thermal Performance Enhancement of CuO-Paraffin Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Material

Abstract

The current work is focused on the synthesis and characterisation of CuO (copper oxide) nanoparticles and investigating the thermal conductivity of CuO nanofluids. CuO was prepared using a wet chemical approach. Newly prepared nanofluid passes through tests to explore its industrial and other applications. An X-Ray diffraction pattern was used to find the average crystalline size of CuO nanofluids. The scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope were used to find the morphology, particle shape and size. Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) was used to find the agglomerated size of nanofluids. The optical properties of the CuO nanofluids were evaluated using ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra. The KD2 pro thermal property analyser was used to find the thermal conductivity of CuO nanofluids and it was discovered that as particle loading rises, thermal conductivity also increases. The performance enhancement of Nanoparticle-Enhanced Phase Change Material (NEPCM) samples was analysed using FTIR, TGA and DSC techniques. FTIR result shows that the physical contact of copper oxide and paraffin does not influence the chemical structure and stability of the NEPCM samples. TGA result shows that as the CuO percentage increases, it enhances the physical bonding interaction between PW and the nanoparticle and improves the stability of NEPCM samples. DSC analysis shows that CuO reduced the impact of super-cooling during the melting and solidification stages. The nano CuO was used to speed up crystallisation and decrease the super cooling effect of paraffin wax. Further, CuO successfully stabilised the heated surface's temperature fluctuation during melting and solidification.