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Solar energy is the most plentiful renewable energy source that has the capability to keep up with the growing demand. When the sun's energy is not available, thermal energy storage (TES) using phase change material (PCM) is a promising technique for storage and utilization. However, PCM's low thermal conductivity may limit its use. The use of nanomaterials to enhance the thermal conductivity is one of the prominent solutions to overcome this issue. This research work reports that graphene nanoparticles (0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7% and 1% mass) enhanced paraffin wax (PW) to improve the thermophysical properties and transmittance capability. Thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ultra-violet visible spectroscope (UV–VIS) were used for the characterization of the base PCM and nano-enhanced phase change materials (NePCM) composites. A significant improvement of 110% in thermal conductivity was obtained at 0.7% mass ratio compared to base PW without compromising the prepared composites' latent heat storage (LHS) capacity. TGA and FTIR outcomes demonstrated excellent thermal and chemical stability, respectively. To check the thermal reliability of composite, the PW and nanocomposite were subjected to repeated thermal cycling. The outcome evidence that the NePCM composite had consistent thermal energy storage properties even after repeated thermal cycles. The composite's light transmission was drastically lowered by 56.34% (PW/Gr-0.5) compared to base PW, resulting in PW/Gr composite has better thermal reliability in relation to thermal conductivity and LHS than base PCM, which can be used specifically in photovoltaic thermal systems and TES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyaniline nanotubes (PANI NTs) blended in refined, bleached and deodorized palm olein (RBDL) nanolubricants were prepared via a two-step method. Initially, the synthesized PANI NTs were characterized to investigate the morphology and elemental composition of the obtained PANI NTs. The obtained image from transmission electron microscopy clearly showed the presence of flake-like structure of PANI NTs. The presence of these PANI NTs was further affirmed with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, which shows the presence of high carbon atoms (the main element for PANI NTs). The formulated surfactant-free nanolubricants were stabilized using ultrasonication with volume concentrations of 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5%. The dispersion behavior of nanolubricants was investigated using visual sedimentation capturing, UV–Vis spectrophotometer and dynamic light scattering (DLS) method. The sedimentation observation of the nanolubricants over the duration of almost 1 month showed there was no sedimentation of the nanoparticles. UV–Vis spectra indicated that all the prepared PANI/RBDL nanolubricants followed Beer–Lambert law. The value of absorbance was found to be slightly decreased, with respect to the duration of time after sample preparation. The dispersion stability analysis supported by DLS method revealed that the amount of particles agglomeration increased after 1 month of preparation. The chemico-physical properties of prepared PANI/RBDL nanolubricants were further investigated by analyzing the chemical bonding using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Additionally, this study intends to investigate the influence of PANI NTs toward the life cycle of base oil via thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. FTIR analysis showed that nanolubricants were chemically stable as there were only physical interactions between PANI additives and RBDL base oil, while the degradation behavior in TG curve demonstrated that the nanolubricants could withstand higher temperature as the volume concentration of nano-additives increased. Rheology and thermal conductivity properties of PANI/RBDL nanolubricants were performed by using rheometer and thermal properties analyzer, respectively. Viscosity measurement revealed that PANI/RBDL nanolubricants exhibited Newtonian behavior. Also, viscosity was found to have been increased with a volume concentration of PANI NTs but decreases with the increase in temperature. From the thermal conductivity measurement, it is proven that the PANI NTs dispersed in the RBDL palm base oil support the thermal properties enhancement. The 0.5% PANI/RBDL nanolubricants had achieved the highest thermal conductivity of 0.4301 W m−1 K −1 at 80 °C with enhancement percentage of 25.76% when compared to conventional base oil at a similar temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanotechnology has emerged to be an essential aspect of science and technology. The growth of this field has been enormous specifically in the development of nanomaterials. Till date, numerous nanomaterials have been developed and designed to suit various applications from mechanical to biomedical. Among the developed nanomaterial, alumina (Al) has been subject of interest due to its notable chemical and physical properties. Specifically, in thermal properties, Al has been shown to have superior thermal conductivity, convective heat transfer coefficient and heat transfer coefficient properties. As such, Al has been utilized in different forms in various fields of applications and verified for its importance, significance and efficiency. Though it had shown outstanding results in the field engineering and sciences, their effect towards the environment and human health is yet to be explored extensively. The present paper aims to review the significance of Al nanoparticle addition in mono- and hybrid nanofluids. Also, this paper intends to provide the reader with an overview of the works that have been carried out using Al nanoparticles and their findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emphasis of this paper is to evaluate the thermophysical properties of crystalline nanocellulose (CNC)-based nanofluid and the optimized machining parameters (cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut) for machining using CNC-based nanofluid. Cutting tool temperature and formed chip temperature during machining are determined with CNC-based coolant and metal working fluid. Minimum quantity lubrication technique is used to minimize the usage of the coolant. Nanocellulose coolant with a concentration of 0.5% shows better thermal conductivity and viscosity. Total heat produced at the cutting tool and the temperature generated at the chip during machining shows significant improvement using CNC-based nanofluid. Statistical analysis reveals that feed rate and depth of cut contribute around 27.48% and 22.66% toward cutting temperature. Meanwhile, none of the parameters significantly affects the heat transfer. The multi-objective optimization reveals that the optimum parameter for machining using CNC-based nanocoolant is: cutting speed = 120, feed rate = 0.05 and depth of cut = 1.78 which produces heat transfer of 379.44 J and cutting temperature of 104.41 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]