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Molecular dynamics simulation of effect of liquid layering around the nanoparticle on the enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluids

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Abstract

The effect of the molecular layering at liquid–solid interface on the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid is investigated by an equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. By tracking the position of the nanoparticle and the liquid atoms around the spherical nanoparticle, it was found that a thin layer of liquid is formed at the interface between the nanoparticle and liquid; this thin layer will move with the Brownian motion of the nanoparticle. Through the analysis of the density distribution of the liquid near the nanoparticle, it is found that more argon atoms are attracted to form the layer around the nanoparticle when the diameter of the nanoparticle is larger, and therefore lead to the more significant enhancement of the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid.

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Abbreviations

E :

Excess energy

h :

Mean partial enthalpy

I :

Unit vector

Jq(0):

Heat current vector at time zero

Jq(t):

Heat current vector at time t

k :

Thermal conductivity of nanofluids

k B :

Boltzmann constant

m :

Mass or number of time steps

M :

Total number of MD time steps for averaging

n :

Number of time steps or number density

N :

Number of atoms or total number of MD simulation time steps

r :

Position vector

r ij :

Distance between atoms i and j

t :

Time

T :

Temperature

v :

Velocity

V :

Volume

Δt :

Time step

ϕ:

Volume fraction of nanoparticles

Φ:

Lennard Jones potential

σ:

Lennard Jones distance parameter

ε:

Lennard Jones cohesive energy parameter

ρ:

Density

s:

Solid

l:

Liquid

α, β:

Copper or argon

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Office of Naval Research Grant No. N00014-06-1-1119. Ling Li and Mo Yang also acknowledge the supports received from the Key Discipline Construction Foundation of Shanghai Municipality under Grant No. J50501, the Key Project program of the National Natural Science Fund of China under Grant No. 50636050, and the Natural Science Fund of Shanghai under Grant No. 09ZR1422400.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 200093, Shanghai, China

    Ling Li & Mo Yang

  2. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Yuwen Zhang & Hongbin Ma

Authors
  1. Ling Li
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  2. Yuwen Zhang
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  3. Hongbin Ma
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  4. Mo Yang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuwen Zhang.

Additional information

This work was completed at University of Missouri during the first author’s visiting appointment.

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Li, L., Zhang, Y., Ma, H. et al. Molecular dynamics simulation of effect of liquid layering around the nanoparticle on the enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluids. J Nanopart Res 12, 811–821 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-009-9728-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-009-9728-5

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