The Electric Conductivity of Nanofluids with Metal Particles

Abstract

The electric conductivity is experimentally studied in nanofluids based on water and ethylene glycol containing copper and aluminum particles. Other properties, such as heat conductivity and rheological characteristics, were evaluated as well. The electric conductivity of nanofluids is shown to increase almost linearly with a nanoparticle concentration, but, unlike the heat conductivity, a gain in electric conductivity is due to a decrease in particle size. In this respect, the mechanisms of electric conductivity and heat conductivity are assumed to have the fundamentally different nature.