Preparation and Thermophysical Properties of SiO2 Nanofluids

Aqueous nanofluids composed of SiO2 nanoparticles with different sizes (15 nm, 30 nm, 50 nm) at a low volume concentration were prepared by a two-step method. The suspension and dispersion characteristics were experimentally examined by the zeta potential, average size and absorption spectrum. The thermophysical properties, such as viscosity, thermal conductivity, surface tension and latent heat of vaporization were experimentally measured. A lot of thermophysical data of SiO2 nanofluids were obtained. The influences of the particle size, particle volume concentration and temperature on thermophysical properties were discussed briefly.