Publication Type Journal Article
Title Temperature dependence of interfacial properties and viscosity of nanofluids for droplet-based microfluidics
Authors SMS Murshed Say-Hwa Tan Nam-Trung Nguyen
Groups MTFT
Journal JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS
Year 2008
Month April
Volume 41
Number 8
Pages
Abstract Interfacial tension and viscosity of a liquid play an important role in microfluidic systems. In this study, temperature dependence of surface tension, interfacial tension and viscosity of a nanofluid are investigated for its applicability in droplet-based microfluidics. Experimental results show that nanofluids having TiO(2) nanoparticles of 15 nm diameter in deionized water exhibit substantially smaller surface tension and oil-based interfacial tension than those of the base fluid (i.e. deionized water). These surface and interfacial tensions of this nanofluid were found to decrease almost linearly with increasing temperature. The Brownian motion of nanoparticles in the base fluid was identified as a possible mechanism for reduced surface and interfacial tensions of the nanofluid. The measured effective viscosity of the nanofluid was found to be insignificantly higher than that of the base fluid and to decrease with increasing fluid temperature. The dependence on the temperature of the droplet formation at the T-junction of a microfluidic device is also studied and the nanofluid shows larger droplet size compared with its base fluid.
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/41/8/085502
ISBN
Publisher
Book Title
ISSN 0022-3727
EISSN
Conference Name
Bibtex ID ISI:000254329500058
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