Proceedings of the Second International Energy 2030 Conference,
November 4-5, 2008, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Thermophysical Properties of Nanostructured Heat Transfer Fluids

B. Yang
University of Maryland, USA

Z. Han
University of Maryland, USA

F. Cao
University of Maryland, USA

J. Xu
University of Maryland, USA

H. Ahuja
University of Maryland, USA

Abstract
Cooling is one of the most important technical challenges facing a range of diverse industries and military needs, including microelectronics, optoelectronics, transportation, and manufacturing. There is an urgent need for innovative heat transfer fluids with improved thermal properties relative to those currently available. The strategy of adding solid, highly conductive particles to improve thermal conductivity of fluids has been pursued since Maxwell’s theoretical work was first published more than 100 years ago. Early-stage studies have been confined to millimeter or micrometer-sized solid particles dispersed in fluids. In the past decade, researchers have primarily focused on suspensions of nanometer-sized solid particles, known as nanofluids. This paper will discuss three generations of nanostructured heat transfer fluids that have been investigated at the University of Maryland [1-6].