Wetting behavior of multi-walled carbon nanotube nanofluids

Abstract

Nanofluids—engineered colloidal suspensions in base liquids—have captivated the interest of researchers over the last two decades for various existing as well as emerging technological applications. The main impetus for the synthesis of such novel nanocomposite liquids is the potential to alter properties of the base liquid, such as its viscosity, thermal conductivity, and surface tension, and to introduce specific optical and magnetic properties. Numerous studies suggest trends and explanations for the effects associated with the addition of nanoparticles, and that deviation from the base liquid properties are dependent on nanoparticle concentration. However, there remains a certain ambiguity in the available literature. The wetting behavior and surface tension of nanofluids are particular examples where highly conflicting results exist. In this study, we used multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) functionalized by plasma treatment and dispersed in reverse osmosis water and 99% anhydrous ethanol. Our observations reveal that the surface tension and wetting behavior of the stable aqueous and ethanol-based nanofluids containing plasma functionalized MWCNTs are unaffected by the MWCNT loading up to 120 (0.012) and ∼210 (0.021) ppm (vol%), respectively. The ethanol-based MWCNT nanofluids allowed us to extend the study to higher loadings, and a linear increase of the surface tension past ∼200 ppm was observed. Conversely, nanofluids containing non-functionalized or surfactant-stabilized MWCNTs show drastically different contact angle values when compared to the base liquids even at very low concentrations (less than 100 ppm). We demonstrate that the stability of nanofluid and method of stabilization are crucial parameters in determining the wetting behavior of nanofluids.