Enhanced thermophysical properties of water-based single and hybrid metallic nanofluids: Insights from Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics

The effect of single (Cu or Ag) and hybrid (Cu+Ag) metallic nanoparticles on the thermophysical properties, namely viscosity and thermal conductivity of water-based nanofluids, has been studied using Equilibrium Molecular dynamics (EMD) simulation. The TIP3P (three-site transferrable intermolecular potential) water model has been chosen. The interaction of water molecules has been modelled by the Lennard-Jones (L J) potential in combination with Coulomb potential. The embedded-atom (EAM) potential method has been used for hybrid (Cu and Ag) atom interaction. Simulation has been performed at 303 K and atmospheric pressure using the Berendsen algorithm under NVT (constant number, constant volume, and constant temperature) ensemble with production steps of 2 ns and integral step of 1fs. Interestingly, nanofluids containing one metallic nanoparticle (Cu or Ag) have lower thermal conductivity and viscosity than nanofluids having hybrid metallic nanoparticles with the same volume fraction.