Study the Effect of Gum Arabic and Triton X-100 on Stability and Thermal Conductivity of ZnO/ethylene glycol Nanofluids

Abstract

Stability of nanofluids is one of the most important factors to ensure the most benefit of the properties of nanoparticles. Zinc oxide was used in the research with concentration between (0.2-1) wt. % with ethylene glycol base fluid. The stability of ZnO nanofluid was enhanced by adding two types of surfactants Tx-100 and Gum Arabic with concentration of (0.1-0.5) vol. % to stabilize the ZnO nanoparticles in the base fluid. The results showed that the Gum Arabic surfactant led to more stable fluid than that of Tx-100; this was shown from zeta potential and UV spectroscopy measurements. The thermal conductivity coefficient was also measured, and the results showed that the thermal conductivity increased with adding surfactant than without using a stabilizer.