An Experimental Study on Electrical Conductivity of Several Oxide Nanoparticle Enhanced PEG 400 Fluid

In this experimental study, nanofluids based on polyethylene-glycol PEG 400 enhanced with zinc and aluminum oxide nanoparticles were studied in terms of pH and electrical conductivity. The nanofluids were found to be stable with a pH in the range 7.45 to 8.90 at ambient temperature. Electrical conductivity was evaluated both at ambient temperature and at heating up to 60 °C and results showed that the nanofluids electrical conductivity increases with temperature and a correlation is proposed. Plus, PEG 400 electrical conductivity variation with temperature was found to be in line with state of the art, while Al2O3 addition decreases the electrical conductivity and ZnO nanoparticle have little to no influence. As a conclusion, the variation of electrical conductivity with nanoparticle concentration is not fully understood in the open literature and intense studies are needed in order to fully understand the mechanisms of its variation and predictability.