Study of Light Scattering by TiO2, Ag, and SiO2 Nanofluids with Particle Diameters of 20-60 nm

In this research, we detailed how the following factors affect the scattering of light by nanofluids: (1) nanoparticle sizes, (2) volume fraction of nanoparticles, and (3) nanoparticle materials. Mie theory was used to calculate the radiative properties of the nanofluids. The radiative properties were then applied into the Radiative Transfer Equation (RTE) to solve for the transmittance and reflectance of light through the nanofluids. The RTE was solved using the Monte Carlo method. Results showed that when the size of nanoparticles and the volume fraction increase, absorption and scattering coefficients increase as well. For silver nanofluids, absorption and scattering coefficients decrease beyond nanoparticle size of about 50 nm. Transmittance of light decreased when nanoparticle sizes increased. When comparing between TiO2, Ag, and SiO2 nanofluids, Ag nanofluids exhibit the highest light absorption followed by TiO2 and SiO2.