Studies on the Functional Properties of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles Distributed in Silyl-Alkyl Bridged...

In the present work, a new kind of nanocomposite (NC)-based solid component was prepared for formulating nanofluids (NFs). The NC comprised metal oxide (titanium dioxide, TiO₂) dispersed in a conducting polymer with polyaniline (PANI) and chemically linked silyl-alkyl units in it (PSA) that were designated as T-PSA NC. The NFs with ethylene glycol (EG) as a base fluid were prepared with T-PSA NCs with various compositions of TiO₂ and PSA as well for various concentrations of T-PSA NCs. The scanning electron microscopic evaluation of the NC revealed that PSA deposition on TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) decreased particle agglomeration. The PSA coating on the TiO₂ NPs did not influence the crystalline structure of the TiO₂ NPs, according to the X-ray diffraction patterns. The thermophysical characterization and molecular interaction features of the NFs at 303 K including a novel inorganic-organic T-PSA NC, were detailed. Furthermore, the stability of the T-PSA NC-based NFs was investigated experimentally using the zeta potential, and the particle size distribution change was analyzed using the dynamic light scattering (DLS) method. The T-PSA NCs had particle sizes that were significantly bigger than pristine PSA and pure TiO₂. Most of the preparation conditions used to produce the T-PSA NCs resulted in moderately stable suspensions in EG. The results revealed that the ultrasonic velocity increased with the increase in the concentration of T-PSA NC mass % in the NFs, the refractive index and thermal conductivity increased with the increase in the concentration, and the surface tension exhibited a linear change when the ratio of mass % concentration of the T-PSA NCs increased. The combined presence of components that synergistically contribute to the electro, thermal, optical, and rheological properties is expected to attract advanced applications for NFs.