ABSTRACT
Investments in the transfer and storage of thermal energy along with renewable energy sources strengthen health and economic infrastructure. These factors intensify energy diversification and the more rapid post-COVID recovery of economies. Ionanofluids (INFs) composed of long multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) rich in sp2-hybridized atoms and ionic liquids (ILs) display excellent thermal conductivity enhancement with respect to the pure IL, high thermal stability, and attractive rheology. However, the influence of the morphology, physicochemistry of nanoparticles and the IL-nanostructure interactions on the mechanism of heat transfer and rheological properties of INFs remain unidentified. Here, we show that intertube nanolayer coalescence, supported by 1D geometry assembly, leads to the subzipping of MWCNT bundles and formation of thermal bridges toward 3D networks in the whole INF volume. We identified stable networks of straight and bent MWCNTs separated by a layer of ions at the junctions. We found that the interactions between the ultrasonication-induced breaking nanotubes and the cations were covalent in nature. Furthermore, we found that the ionic layer imposed by close MWCNT surfaces favored enrichment of the cis conformer of the bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide anion. Our results demonstrate how the molecular perfection of the MWCNT structure with its supramolecular arrangement affects the extraordinary thermal conductivity enhancement of INFs. Thus, we gave the realistic description of the interactions at the IL-CNT interface with its (super)structure and chemistry as well as the molecular structure of the continuous phase. We anticipate our results to be a starting point for more complex studies on the supramolecular zipping mechanism. For example, ionically functionalized MWCNTs toward polyionic systemsâof projected and controlled nanolayersâcould enable the design of even more efficient heat-transfer fluids and miniaturization of flexible electronics.
ABSTRACT
Nowadays, numerous studies on nanomaterials (NMs) and Nanofluids (NFs) are account a plethora of applications. With the scientific society's common goal of fulfilling the target of sustainable development proposed by the UN by 2030, it is necessary to combine efforts based on the scientific and technological knowledge already acquired, to apply these new systems with safety. There are thousands of publications that examine the use of NFs, their benefits and drawbacks, properties, behaviors, etc., but very little is known about the safety of some of these systems at a laboratory and industrial scale. What is the correct form of manipulating, storing, or even destroying them? What is their life cycle, and are they likely to be reused? Depending on the nanoparticles, the characteristics of the base fluid (water, propylene glycol, or even an ionic liquid) and the addition or not of additives/surfactants, the safety issue becomes complex. In this study, general data regarding the safety of NF (synthetic and natural) are discussed, for a necessary reflection leading to the elaboration of a methodology looking at the near future, intended to be sustainable at the level of existing resources, health, and environmental protection, paving the way for safer industrial and medical applications. A discussion on the efficient use of nanofluids with melanin (natural NM) and TiO2 in a pilot heat collector for domestic solar energy applications illustrates this methodology, showing that technical advantages can be restricted by their environment and safety/security implications.
ABSTRACT
Ionic liquids have been suggested as new engineering fluids, namely in the area of heat transfer, as alternatives to current biphenyl and diphenyl oxide, alkylated aromatics and dimethyl polysiloxane oils, which degrade above 200 °C and pose some environmental problems. Recently, we have proposed 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methanesulfonate, [C2mim][CH3SO3], as a new heat transfer fluid, because of its thermophysical and toxicological properties. However, there are some interesting points raised in this work, namely the possibility of the existence of liquid metastability below the melting point (303 K) or second order-disorder transitions (l-type) before reaching the calorimetric freezing point. This paper analyses in more detail this zone of the phase diagram of the pure fluid, by reporting accurate thermal-conductivity measurements between 278 and 355 K with an estimated uncertainty of 2% at a 95% confidence level. A new value of the melting temperature is also reported, Tmelt = 307.8 ± 1 K. Results obtained support liquid metastability behaviour in the solid-phase region and permit the use of this ionic liquid at a heat transfer fluid at temperatures below its melting point. Thermal conductivity models based on Bridgman theory and estimation formulas were also used in this work, failing to predict the experimental data within its uncertainty.
