Characterization study of a thermal oil-based carbon black solar nanofluid

Abstract

Carbon nanoparticles are very useful in solar thermal applications, since they absorb much of the solar spectrum, are cheap and have excellent optical properties. Carbon nanoparticlesthermal oil-based nanofluid was prepared using two-step method with diphenyl sulfone as surfactant to achieve that nanoparticles remain suspended even at high temperatures. The size particle distribution was studied using two Dynamic Light Scattering systems at room and high temperature and also evaluated before and after exposing the nanofluid to a thermal treatment so that conditions closer to those in real applications were replicated. Moreover, the morphological changes due to the thermal treatment were observed with Transmission Electron Microscopy. Finally, the optical properties as the ballistic transmittance, absorption coefficient and scattering albedo of the base fluid as well as of the nanofluid were measured using a spectrophotometer with and without integrating sphere. The results of this study contribute to the knowledge about these solar nanofluids that are promising alternatives to the conventional solar collectors.