The Study of Stability and Volumetric Properties for ZrO2 Nanoparticles Dispersed in Polypropylene Glycol (PPG) and Aqueous solutions of PPG

Nanofluids are a mixture of particles with sizes of 1-100 nm in a fluid phase [1], containing of water, ethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol and light oils. Nanoparticles, nanofibers, nanotubes and nanorods have been used in preparation of nanofluids [2]. Nanofluids have specific aspects that distinguish them from two phase fluid mixture with micro or millimeter particles [3]. The most important thermophysical properties in nanofluids are viscosity and density. Lots of researches have been done in this field and it still needs more attention [4]. In this work the nanoparticles of ZrO2 have been dispersed in polypropylene glycol (PPG) and aqueous solutions of PPG and stability of these nanofluids has been verified with UV-vis spectroscopy. The density, speed of sound and viscosity values for stable nanofluid have been measured at (293.15, 298.15, 308.15 and 318.15) K. From these experimental data, the excess molar volume, VmE, and isentropic compressibility, κs, have been determined. The behaviour of these values with temperature and concentration has been interpreted for studying the dispersion of ZrO2 nanoparticles in base fluid. The VmE values were fitted to the Redlish-Kister, Ott- et al., and polynomial equations. The isentropic compressibility values were correlated with the polynomial equation. The Eyring-NRTL and Eyring-mNRF models have successfully been used for correlating the viscosity values of the stable nanofluid with temperature dependency considered. This study’s aim is to get the most stable Nanofluids with polymers and investigate the volumetric and viscosity oroperties of these Nanofluids.