AbstractNanofluids are colloidal suspensions of nanoparticles in base fluids. Some of the particles used in recent research are metal oxide and carbide particles, such as SiC, CuO, Al2O3 and TiO2, graphite and carbon nanotubes and particles. Quenching in such colloids results in better cooling abilities, higher impact toughness and smaller dimension changes of steels, compared with pure quenching media. In this investigation, nanofluids with TiO2 powders of 50 nm average particle size were investigated. Base fluids of primary interest were deionised (DI) water, some commercial quenching oils and polyalkylene glycol water solution of various polymer concentrations, 5–30 vol.-%. The investigated fluids were prepared with the addition of the same TiO2 powder with different concentrations, from extremely low, 10 mg nanopowder per litre to 1 g L−1. The cooling characteristics of these colloids were compared with the results of base fluids, but also with the results of previous measurements carried out on the f...