Applied Thermal Engineering 161 (2019) 114192

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Experimental investigation on the plasmonic blended nanofluid for efficient T

solar absorption
Huiling Duana, , Yuan Zhenga, Chang Xua, Yuanfang Shangb, ,c, Fan Dingd
⁎ ⁎

a
College of Energy and Electrical Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
b
Shenzhen Kuang-Chi Cutting-edge Technology Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, China
c
Shenzhen Kuang-Chi Institute of Advanced Technology, Shenzhen, China
d
China Ship Development and Design Center, Wuhan, China

HIGHLIGHTS

• Plasmonic effect is introduced in solar thermal areas to enhance light absorption.

• AA plasmonic blended nanofluid is proposed and a broadband absorption is obtained.
• Theheatsimulation
transfer model coupled with RTE is established to verify experimental results.
• A match betweenresults are consistent with the experimental results.
• extinction spectrum and solar spectrum contribute to temperature rise.

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: A plasmonic blended nanofluid formed by mixing Au nanoparticles with different shapes in water is proposed in
Blended nanofluid this paper for direct solar absorption. Optical and thermal properties of the plasmonic blended nanofluid are
Plasmonic effect studied numerically and experimentally. Resonant characteristics of Au plasmonic nanoparticles are tuned by
Broadband absorption particle shapes. Compared with single-component nanofluid, the extinction spectrum of this plasmonic blended
Photothermal performance
nanofluid is broadened. The matching of extinction spectrum and solar radiation spectrum is tuned by adjusting
the proportion of components in blended nanofluid. Photothermal properties of three types of plasmonic blended
nanofluids are measured experimentally. Due to the higher extinction coefficient, the blended nanofluid exhibits
higher temperature rise. A simplified heat transfer model is established to verify experimental results. Simulation
results are consistent with experimental results. Before experiment, photothermal properties of different nano-
fluids can be qualitatively compared by using the simulation model, which can effectively reduce the number
and cost of experiments.

1. Introduction [7–11]. Compared with the conventional surface absorption, the volu-
metric absorbers based on nanofluids exhibit much higher efficiency.
Nanofluids are suspensions formed by nanoparticles dispersed in Kasaeian and co-workers’ study [12] shows that the global efficiency of
base fluids. Because of its excellent heat transfer properties, nanofluids vacuum tubes using carbon nanotube-oil based nanofluid as working
as function fluids have attracted wide attention in the past few years. fluid is averagely 11% higher than that of bare tubes. Gupta et al. [13]
The addition of nanoparticles can help improve the thermal con- investigated the effect of Al2O3-water nanofluid on the efficiency of
ductivity of base fluid and enhance the heat transfer performance [1]. direct solar absorber at different flow rates. At 1.5 and 2 L/min flow
In recent years, nanofluids have also been incorporated into solar en- rates, the efficiency increased by 8.1% and 4.2% respectively. By using
ergy systems for direct solar absorption [2–6]. As the working fluids, WO3-water nanofluid for direct solar absorption, the maximum effi-
nanofluids absorb sunlight directly and convert it into thermal energy. ciency of the solar absorber can be increased by 13.48% [14].
Various nanofluids, such as graphite, MWCNTs (multi-walled carbon For the nanofluid-based volumetric absorber, the heat resistance
nanotubes), Al2O3, CuO, Cu, TiO2, and so on, have been investigated and radiative heat loss can be reduced. On the other hand, the

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (H. Duan), [email protected] (Y. Shang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.114192
Received 28 February 2019; Received in revised form 23 July 2019; Accepted 29 July 2019
Available online 30 July 2019
1359-4311/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
H. Duan, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 161 (2019) 114192

improvement of efficiency is also related to the enhancement of solar

absorption by nanoparticles. There is one kind of plasmonic nano-
particles that can support localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)
effect on their surfaces. LSPR effect is induced by collective oscillation Solar

10mm
of conductive electrons in the nanoparticles excited by incident photons simulator nanofluid container
[15]. As LSPR effect is excited, the absorption and scattering of light
can be significantly enhanced [16–18]. It can be expected that an en-
hancement of solar absorption can be obtained by adding some pla-
monic nanoparticles into base fluid. Therefore, plasmonic nanofluids
have potential applications in the field of photothermal conversion
[19–22]. Chen et al. [23] compared the efficiency of direct solar col-
lector based on different nanofluids. Their results show that the plas- insolution
layer
monic nanofluid (e.g. silver nanofluid or gold nanofluid) has higher data acquisition
photothermal conversion efficiency than titanium dioxide nanofluid thermocouple
unit
since the plasmonic nanofluid absorbs more light under the excitation
of LSPR effect. However, the enhanced absorption assisted by LSPR Fig. 1. Schematic of the experimental setup for measuring the temperature
effect occurs only in the narrow band of a specific frequency (resonance distribution in the nanofluid.
frequency). That is to say, an enhancement of broadband absorption is
difficult to obtain by the resonant effect. 2.2. Experimental setup
The resonant condition of LSPR effect is affected by the particle’s
material, shape, size, structure, and so on [24–28]. By adjusting these The schematic of the experimental setup for measuring the tem-
factors, the resonant characteristics can be tuned. Taking core/shell perature distribution in nanofluid is shown in Fig. 1. The nanofluid is
nanoparticles as an example, the absorption peak can be tuned by filled in a transparent quartz cuvette. Except for the top surface, the
varying the sizes of core and shell [29–36]. Lv et al. [37] noticed a red- other surfaces of the cuvette are covered with aerogel to prevent heat
shift in the plasmon resonance peak from a wavelength of about 600 nm loss. For temperature measurement, the thermocouple terminal is in-
to around 1400 nm for Au coated silicon core nanoparticles. And, for an serted into the nanofluid through an aperture in side wall. And the
equal temperature rise, the volume fraction of plasmonic nanoshell- other end of the thermocouple is connected to a data acquisition unit.
based nanofluid can be reduced compare with that of common nano- Newport Solar Simulator is used as a light source to simulate sunlight.
fluid [34]. It is known that the solar absorption of nanofluids is the key Before measurement, the radiation intensity of the solar simulator is
factor affecting the photothermal efficiency. To achieve strong ab- checked with a standard solar cell. In the experiment, the height of the
sorption over a wide range of wavelength, we consider blending dif- light source is adjusted to ensure that the total radiation on the top
ferent types of nanoparticles into base fluid to form blended nanofluids. surface of the nanofluid container is 1000 W/m2.
Lee et al. numerically verified the feasibility of improving the photo-
thermal efficiency of the blended nanofluids based on four kinds of 2.3. Simulation model
gold-nanoshell particles [19]. Zeng et al. [38] investigated a binary
nanofluid containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and The transmittance of the plasmonic nanofluid can be measured by a
SiO2/Ag plamonic nanoparticles, showing good optical absorption and UV/Vis spectrophotometer. The relationship between transmittance
heat transfer properties. In addition to core/shell nanoparticles, particle and extinction coefficient can be described by Beer-Lambert law [40].
shape is also an important factor in tuning the resonant peak. Jeon et al. The intensity of light decays exponentially with penetration depth as
[39] characterized the optical properties of plasmonic nanofuid based propagating through the medium, as Eq. (1) shows.
on gold nanorod with different aspect ratios. As the aspect ratio of
I
nanorods increases, the resonant peak shows red-shifting tendency. = = exp( )
I0 (1)
Therefore, we consider mixing nanoparticles of different shapes to
achieve broadband absorption and make full use of solar radiation. where τ is the transmittance, I is the light intensity, κ is the extinction
In this work, three kinds of Au nanoparticles with different shapes coefficient, and ξ is the path length of light. In the measurement of
are blended together in water for direct solar absorption. The effect of transmittance, the path length of light is 1 cm. The extinction coeffi-
particle shape on tunability of optical properties was demonstrated. In cient of nanofluid can be calculated from the measured transmittance
addition, the photothermal performance of the plasmonic blended na- based on Eq. (1). The nanofluid has the same boundary conditions in
nofluids was investigated numerically and experimentally. the horizontal direction, so that it can be considered that the variation
of temperature mainly occurs in the depth direction. Therefore, ac-
2. Material and methods cording to the experimental setup, a simplified heat transfer model is
established to verify the experimental results, as shown in Fig. 2. It can
2.1. Preparation and characterization of blended nanofluid be described by transient heat conduction equation:
T 2T
Three kinds of Au nanoparticles with different shapes were blended cp +Q=k 2
t y (2)
in water in a certain proportion to prepare plasmonic blended nano-
fluids. The shapes of Au nanoparticles are spherical, star-shaped and where ρ is the nanofluid density, cp is the specific heat, k is the thermal
rod-shaped. The nanoparticles are provided by Nanjing MKNANO Tech. conductivity, and Q represents the volumetric heat generation due to
Co., Ltd. and Nanjing XFNANO Materials Tech Co., Ltd. To ensure the absorption of incident radiation. Since the volume fraction of the na-
stability of nanofluids, cetytrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) was nofluid is very low in the experiment, the density ρ, specific heat cp, and
added as surfactant. The morphologies of Au nanoparticles were char- thermal conductivity k of the nanofluid are assumed identical to those
acterized by a Philips Tecnai 12 transmission electron microscope of pure water [41]. Here, the convective term is neglected because light
(TEM). In order to evaluate the optical properties of different-shaped is absorbed from the top and exponentially decays along the depth, so
Au nanofluids as well as blended nanofluids, the transmittances of these the resulting temperature distribution does not cause buoyancy driven
plasmonic nanofluids were measured by Agilent Cary 5000 spectro- flow [42].
photometer at room temperature. The ratios of absorption to scattering efficiency (Qabs/Qsca) of

2
H. Duan, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 161 (2019) 114192

0.1cm
0
dy I
H=1cm y
I
rb
0.1cm

Fig. 2. Simplified simulation model. Light is incident from the top, scattered or
absorbed by the nanofluid. The radiation is reflected by the bottom wall with a
reflectance of rb.

Fig. 3. Ratios of absorption to scattering efficiency of different-shaped nano-

particles. The absorption is far greater than scattering for the three shapes of
nanoparticles.

nanoparticles with different shapes are calculated, as shown in Fig. 3.

The average ratios (Qabs/Qsca) are about 13837.3, 130.1 and 665.8 for
spherical, rod-shaped and star-shaped nanoparticle respectively. It is
found that the absorption is far greater than scattering for the three
kinds of nanoparticles. Therefore, scattering can be neglected and these
nanoparticles can be regarded as strong absorbers. Lambert-Beer law
can provide a good approximation of light transfer in systems where
absorption is much stronger than scattering [43]. Therefore, the ra-
diation transfer equation can be approximated by Lambert-Beer law in
this paper.
With the increase of propagation distance, the radiation intensity
(I (y ) = I0 e y , I0 is incident intensity, glass has a very high transmit-
tance to sunlight, here, for simplicity, the transmittance of top cover is
assumed to be 1) attenuates exponentially according to Beer-Lambert
law. The attenuation rate depends on the extinction properties of na-
nofluid. When the extinction coefficient is small, the incident radiation
cannot be completely absorbed when passing through the nanofluid.
Then, the radiation will be reflected by the bottom wall
(I ' (y ) = I (H ) rb e (H y ) , rb is reflectance of bottom wall, a mirror is
used to enhance the reflection of light at the bottom, here, the back
reflectance of most mirrors is assumed to be 0.9) and absorbed again by
Fig. 4. TEM images of Au nanoparticles with different shapes (a) spherical (b)
the nanofluid. Therefore, the volumetric heat generation term can be
rod-shaped (c) star-shaped.
calculated as Q = dy (I + I ) d .
d

In the model, the natural convection boundary condition is adopted

on the top surface, the convective heat transfer coefficient hc of 10 W/ y axis, the grid is uniformly divided. The discrete equation is deduced
m2/K, and the other sides are set to be insulated. The radiative heat loss by control volume integral method. And the local temperature T in
to the environment from top surface is evaluated from Stefan- nanofluid can be solved by iterative calculation.
Boltzmann law. The ambient temperature is maintained at 300 K. Along

3
H. Duan, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 161 (2019) 114192

3. Results and discussion around 510 nm seen in spherical nanoparticles, nanorods (Fig. 6(b))
possess a high-absorption band at longer wavelengths due to the elec-
3.1. Morphologies and optical properties trons oscillating along the long axis of nanorods. As charge separation is
not great along the short axis, the transverse resonance (along the short
The morphologies of three kinds of Au nanoparticles were char- axis) appears at shorter wavelength as compared with the longitudinal
acterized with TEM, as shown in Fig. 4. The morphologies of nano- resonance (along the long axis) [46]. Similarly, for star-shaped nano-
particles are spherical, rod-shaped and irregular star-shaped respec- particles (Fig. 6(c)), sharp corners promote charge separation, resulting
tively. They can be represented by nanospheres, nanorods, and in a red shift of resonance peak, as compared with Fig. 6(a). Moreover,
nanostars. It can be observed that the size of nanospheres is in the range due to the decreased symmetry of star-shaped nanoparticles, the po-
of 5–10 nm, the diameter of the nanorods is about 10 nm and length is larization mode of electron density increases, so there are more re-
about 50 nm. For the irregular nanostars, the projected diameter is sonance peaks than spherical nanoparticles [46].
about 40 nm. It is known that the plasmon resonant characteristics can Since the resonance peaks are narrow, it is difficult to achieve
be tuned by particle shape. Therefore, we attempt to blend plasmonic broadband absorption using only one type of nanofluid. The particle
nanoparticles with different shapes to obtain an enhancement of shape has an effect on tuning resonance characteristics. It can be con-
broadband absorption. sidered to mix different types of nanoparticles into base fluid forming
The extinction coefficients of Au nanofluids and blended nanofluids blended nanofluid to achieve an enhancement of broadband absorption.
are calculated from the measured transmittance according to Beer- As shown in Fig. 6, the resonance characteristics of plasmonic Au na-
Lambert law ( = I = e , here, the light path ξ = 1 cm). The extinc- nofluids with different shapes are complementary in wavelength region
I
0
tion coefficients of spherical particles can be easily calculated by Mie from 300 to 1200 nm. The extinction coefficients of plasmonic blended
theory [44,45]. Therefore, taking spherical particles as an example, the nanofluids are shown in Fig. 6(d). The concentration of plasmonic
experimental result is validated with simulation. The extinction coef- blended nanofluids is 0.1 g/L, and the mass ratio of each component in
ficients of Au nanofluid measured from experiment are compared with the blended nanofluid as illustrated in Table 1.
those calculated from Mie theory, as shown in Fig. 5. The simulation Compared with the single-component nanofluid, blended nanofluids
result is consistent with the experiment. Since the particle size in the have broader extinction peaks. The extinction properties of blended
experiment may not be very uniform, which has a certain deviation nanofluid are affected by the proportion of each component. For clarity,
from the simulated particle size, so there is a slight difference between Fig. 6(d) shows only three different proportions of blended nanofluids.
the experiment and simulation results. By adjusting the ratio of each component, the extinction peaks can be
The extinction coefficients of nanofluids with different shapes were tuned. With the increase in the ratio of nanorods, the optical absorption
measured by a UV–visible-NIR spectrophotometer. Fig. 6 shows the in waveband of 750–1100 nm is enhanced. Among the three blended
effect of concentration on extinction properties of different nanofluids. nanofluids shown in Fig. 6(d), the extinction spectrum of blended na-
CTAB surfactant was added to the solution to ensure the stability of nofluid 3 is broad over the solar band. An enhancement of light ab-
nanofluids. For comparison, the extinction spectrum of water base fluid sorption is beneficial to the improvement of photothermal performance.
containing CTAB is also presented in Fig. 6. With the decrease of con- The photothermal properties will be discussed experimentally and
centration, the extinction coefficient is gradually reduced. The base theoretically in detail in the following.
fluid water is essentially transparent to visible light and absorbs only a
small amount of near-infrared light. Due to the presence of nano- 3.2. Photothermal properties
particles, the extinction properties are resonantly enhanced as a result
of the excitation of LSPR effect on the surface of Au nanoparticles [15]. The temperature rise in nanofluid can be measured from the ex-
It can be observed that the resonant peaks shown by dashed lines are perimental setup shown in Fig. 1. The nanofluid is illuminated by si-
narrow, and the resonant characteristics are affected by the particle mulated sunlight. Fig. 7 shows the transient temperature responses in
shape. As any change in the shape of nanoparticle affects the pattern of different nanofluids under the same conditions. Because the nanofluid
free electrons oscillation, the resonant frequency will change [46]. As container is small and its depth is only 1 cm, the temperature of the
shown in Fig. 6(a), the resonance wavelength of spherical nanoparticles nanofluid is measured by a thermocouple placed in the center. Among
is about 510 nm in the visible region. In addition to the resonance band the three different-shaped nanofluids, the rod-shaped nanofluid has the
highest temperature rise rate. Under the same conditions, the tem-
perature rise ΔT of rod-shaped and star-shaped nanofluids can reach to
21.5 K and 17.8 K respectively at 1200 s. The photothermal perfor-
mance is related to the optical and thermophysical properties of na-
nofluid. Since the particle concentration is too small, the presence of
nanoparticles has little effect on the thermophysical properties of na-
nofluids. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the thermophysical
properties of nanofluids are identical to those of base fluid. The influ-
ence of thermophysical properties on the photothermal performance
can be neglected. In this way, the difference in temperature rise rate of
nanofluids is mainly due to optical properties, i.e. extinction properties.
Extinction properties are affected by particle shape, so temperature rise
is also indirectly affected by particle shape.
As shown in Fig. 6(a)–(c), the presence of nanoparticles enhances
the absorption at short wavelengths. While at longer wavelengths, the
spectrum of nanofluid is almost the same as that of pure water. For
spherical nanofluid, the absorption band is mainly located in the visible
region. And, the star-shaped nanofluid mainly absorbs ultraviolet and
near-infrared light. While for the visible light with the strongest solar
Fig. 5. Comparison of experimental and simulated extinction coefficients of radiation intensity, the absorption by star-shaped nanofluid is weak.
spherical Au nanofluid. The simulation result is consistent with the experi- The rod-shaped nanofluid can absorb both visible and near-infrared
mental result, although there is a small deviation. light, and the absorption of near-infrared light is stronger. So it seems

4
H. Duan, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 161 (2019) 114192

Fig. 6. Measured extinction coefficients of Au nanofluids with different particle shapes. (a) spherical (b) rod-shaped (c) star-shaped (d) blended nanofluid. The
resonant characteristics are affected by the particle shapes (resonant peaks are shown by dashed lines). The blended nanofluids show broader extinction peaks, and
the extinction properties are affected by the proportion of each component.

Table 1
Mass ratios of different nanoparticles in blended nanofluids.
Nanospheres Nanostars Nanorods

Blended nanofluid 1 66.7% 33.3% 0

Blended nanofluid 2 72.7% 18.2% 9.1%
Blended nanofluid 3 40% 40% 20%

that the trends of temperature rise shown in Fig. 7 are consistent with
the extinction characteristics shown in Fig. 6. After all, the optical ab-
sorption properties of nanofluids are the most important factors af-
fecting the photothermal performance of volumetric solar absorbers.
Fig. 8 shows the measured temperature rises in blended nanofluids.
Blended nanofluids are nanoparticles of different shapes mixed in a
certain proportion. The ratios of components of blended nanofluids are
shown in Table 1. Among the three kinds of blended nanofluids, the
temperature rise rate of blended nanofluid 3 is the highest, while that of
Fig. 7. Measured temperature rises in nanofluids of different particle shapes
blended nanofluid 1 and 2 is similar, and that of blended nanofluid 2 is (spherical, star-shaped, and rod-shaped), the concentration is 0.01 wt%. The
slightly higher. It is consistent with the extinction characteristics shown rod-shaped nanofluid has the highest temperature rise rate among the different-
in Fig. 6(d). Among the three kinds of blended nanofluids, the extinc- shaped nanofluids. The difference in temperature rises among the nanofluids is
tion spectrum of blended nanofluid 3 is the widest. The optical prop- mainly due to the extinction properties. The extinction properties are affected
erties of blended nanofluids can be tuned by the proportion of each by the particle shape, so the temperature rise is also indirectly affected by the
component. And then, the photothermal performance is also affected by particle shape.

5
H. Duan, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 161 (2019) 114192

Table 2
Solar-weighted absorption coefficient Am of different nanofluids.
Blended Blended Blended Rod-shaped
nanofluid 1 nanofluid 2 nanofluid 3 nanofluid

Am 0.853 0.878 0.963 0.95

absorption properties of nanofluids can be characterized by solar-

weighted absorption coefficient Am [47], that is
2500nm
300nm 0
I (1 e 2H ) d
Am = 2500nm . Table 2 compares the solar-weighted absorp-
300nm 0
I d
tion coefficients Am of different nanofluids. Blended nanofluid 3 has the
highest solar-weighted absorption coefficient Am, followed by rod-
shaped nanofluid, which is consistent with the temperature rise trend
shown in Figs. 8 and 9.
It can be expected that if the proportion of each component is fur-
ther adjusted or new components added to tune the matching between
Fig. 8. Measured temperature rises in blended nanofluids. The temperature extinction spectrum and solar spectrum, the photothermal performance
rises in blended nanofluids are affected by the proportion of each component of blended nanofluids can be further improved.
(the mass ratios are shown in Table 1). Blended nanofluid 3 has the highest According to this experiment, a simplified heat transfer model is
temperature rise rate. The temperature characteristics are consistent with the
established. Further, the simulation results can be compared with the
extinction characteristics shown in Fig. 6(d).
experimental results. The transient temperature response of blended
nanofluids was simulated based on Eq. (2). The extinction coefficients
the proportion of different nanoparticles. For a more intuitive com- for calculating the volumetric heat generation were measured by ex-
parison of photothermal performance between blended nanofluid and periments. The measured extinction coefficients are available only in
single-component nanofluid, the temperature characteristics of blended the wavelength range between 300 and 1350 nm. At longer wave-
nanofluid 3 and rod-shaped nanofluid are shown in Fig. 9. It can be lengths, the extinction of nanofluid is similar to that of pure water.
observed that the temperature rise rate of blended nanofluid is even Therefore, for longer wavelengths, the calculated values of pure water
higher than that of rod-shaped nanofluid which has the highest tem- are employed. Taking blended nanofluid 3 as an example, the experi-
perature rise among the spherical and star-shaped nanofluids (as shown mental and simulation results are compared in Fig. 10. The experi-
in Fig. 7). Although the extinction spectrum of rod-shaped nanofluid is mental result is consistent with the simulation result, but there are some
wider than that of spherical and star-shaped nanofluids, the extinction deviations between them. The simulation result is slightly smaller than
of rod-shaped nanofluid is weaker in the visible band. By mixing na- the experimental result. The deviations may originate from the mea-
noparticles of different shapes together to form blended nanofluids, the suring errors of thermocouple. Since the liquid is very thin, the ther-
extinction spectrum is broadened. And, by adjusting the proportion of mocouple may be directly exposed to sunlight. Another cause for the
each component, the extinction properties can be further tuned to deviations may be the difference between the simulation model and
match the solar spectrum. As shown in Fig. 6, the extinction coefficient experimental model, because some assumptions are intended to sim-
of blended nanofluid 3 in visible band is much higher than that of rod- plify the calculation.
shaped nanofluid, especially around 640 nm. Therefore, the blended Further, we simulate the temperature rises of three kinds of blended
nanofluid exhibits higher photothermal performance. This can be ana- nanofluids using this simulation model, as shown in Fig. 11. Although
lyzed from the optical absorption properties of nanofluids. The solar the simulation results have some deviations from the experiment, the
simulation model can also qualitatively describe the temperature rise

Fig. 9. Comparison of temperature rise in nanorod nanofluid and blended na-

nofluid 3. The temperature rise of blended nanofluid 3 is even higher than that Fig. 10. Comparison of temperature rise between experimental and simulation
of rod-shaped nanofluid, although the rod nanofluid has the highest tempera- results for blended nanofluid 3. The experimental result is consistent with the
ture rise compared with spherical and star-shaped nanofluids. The temperature simulation, but there are some deviations between them. The cause for the
rise can be analyzed from the solar-weighted absorption properties as Table 2 deviations may be the difference between the simulation model and experi-
shows. mental model.

6
H. Duan, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 161 (2019) 114192

References

[1] M. Lomascolo, G. Colangelo, M. Milanese, A.D. Risi, Review of heat transfer in

nanofluids: conductive, convective and radiative experimental results, Renew.
Sustain. Energy Rev. 43 (2015) 1182–1198.
[2] M. Abdelrahman, P. Fumeaux, P. Suter, Study of solid-gas-suspensions used for
direct absorption of concentrated solar radiation, Sol. Energy 22 (1979) 45–48.
[3] R. Saidur, T.C. Meng, Z. Said, M. Hasanuzzaman, A. Kamyar, Evaluation of the
effect of nanofluid-based absorbers on direct solar collector, Int. J. Heat Mass
Transf. 55 (2012) 5899–5907.
[4] Q. He, S. Zeng, S. Wang, Experimental investigation on the efficiency of flat-plate
solar collectors with nanofluids, Appl. Therm. Eng. 88 (2015) 165–171.
[5] Z. Luo, C. Wang, W. Wei, G. Xiao, M. Ni, Performance improvement of a nanofluid
solar collector based on direct absorption collection (DAC) concepts, Int. J. Heat
Mass Transf. 75 (2014) 262–271.
[6] T.B. Gorji, A.A. Ranjbar, A review on optical properties and application of nano-
fluids in direct absorption solar collectors (DASCs), Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev. 72
(2017) 10–32.
[7] H. Kim, J. Ham, C. Park, H. Cho, Theoretical investigation of the efficiency of a U-
tube solar collector using various nanofluids, Energy 94 (2016) 497–507.
[8] J. Subramani, P.K. Nagarajan, O. Mahian, R. Sathyamurthy, Efficiency and heat
transfer improvements in a parabolic trough solar collector using TiO2 nanofluids
Fig. 11. Simulated temperature rises in blended nanofluids. The temperature under turbulent flow regime, Renew. Energy 119 (2018) 19–31.
rise of blended nanofluid 3 is the highest, and that of blended nanofluid 1 is [9] A.J. Moghadam, M. Farzane-Gord, M. Sajadi, M. Hoseyn-Zadeh, Effects of CuO/
smallest. The trend is consistent with the experimental results. The simulation water nanofluid on the efficiency of a flat-plate solar collector, Exp. Therm. Fluid
Sci. 58 (2014) 9–14.
model can be used to qualitatively compare the photothermal properties of
[10] T. Yousefi, F. Veisy, E. Shojaeizadeh, S. Zinadini, An experimental investigation on
different nanofluids. the effect of Al2O3-H2O nanofluid on the efficiency of flat-plate solar collectors,
Renew. Energy 39 (2012) 293–298.
[11] H. Chaji, Y. Ajabshirchi, E. Esmaielzadeh, S. Zeinali-Haris, M. Hedayatizadeh,
characteristics of nanofluids. As shown in Fig. 11, the simulated tem- M. Kahani, Experimental study on thermal efficiency of flat plate solar collector
perature rises in blended nanofluids show the trend consistent with using TiO2-water nanofluid, Mod. Appl. Sci. 7 (2013) 60–69.
experimental results. In accordance with the experimental results, the [12] A. Kasaeian, S. Daviran, R.D. Azarian, A. Rashidi, Performance evaluation and
nanofluid using capability study of a solar parabolic trough collector, Energy
temperature rise of blended nanofluid 3 is the highest, and that of Convers. Manage. 89 (2015) 368–375.
blended nanofluid 1 is the smallest. Therefore, before experiment, it is [13] H.K. Gupta, G.D. Agrawal, J. Mathur, Investigations for effect of Al2O3-H2O nano-
possible to qualitatively compare the photothermal properties of dif- fluid flow rate on the efficiency of direct absorption solar collector, Case Stud.
Therm. Eng. 5 (2015) 70–78.
ferent nanofluids according to the simulation model, so that the number [14] M.A. Sharafeldin, G. Gr, O. Mahian, Experimental study on the performance of a
of experiments can be reduced and the cost of experiments can be flat-plate collector using WO3/Water nanofluids, Energy 141 (2017).
saved. [15] S.A. Maier, Plasmonics: Fundamentals and Applications, Springer, New York, 2006.
[16] N.G. Khlebtsov, L.A. Dykman, Optical properties and biomedical applications of
plasmonic nanoparticles, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transf. 111 (2010) 1–35.
[17] S. Linic, P. Christopher, D.B. Ingram, Plasmonic-metal nanostructures for efficient
4. Conclusions conversion of solar to chemical energy, Nat. Mater. 10 (2011) 911–921.
[18] X. Chen, Y. Chen, M. Yan, M. Qiu, Nanosecond photothermal effects in plasmonic
nanostructures, ACS Nano 6 (2012) 2550–2557.
The plasmon resonance effect can significantly enhance the optical [19] B.J. Lee, K. Park, T. Walsh, L. Xu, Radiative heat transfer analysis in plasmonic
properties. However, the resonant peak is narrow, just located at the nanofluids for direct solar thermal absorption, J. Sol. Energy Eng. 134 (2012)
021009.
resonant frequency. In order to obtain broadband absorption of solar
[20] Q. Li, W. Zhang, D. Zhao, M. Qiu, Photothermal enhancement in core-shell struc-
energy, Au nanoparticles of different shapes (spherical, star-shaped, tured plasmonic nanoparticles, Plasmonics 9 (2014) 623–630.
and rod-shaped) were mixed into water to form plasmonic blended [21] M. Chen, Y. He, J. Zhu, Y. Shuai, B. Jiang, Y. Huang, An experimental investigation
nanofluids. The optical and thermal properties of three kinds of blended on sunlight absorption characteristics of silver nanofluids, Sol. Energy 115 (2015)
85–94.
nanofluids were tested experimentally. Compared with single-compo- [22] M. Mehrali, M.K. Ghatkesar, R. Pecnik, Full-spectrum volumetric solar thermal
nent nanofluids, the extinction spectra of blended nanofluids are conversion via graphene/silver hybrid plasmonic nanofluids, Appl. Energy (2018)
broadened. The optical properties of blended nanofluids can be tuned 103–115.
[23] M. Chen, Y. He, J. Zhu, D. Wen, Investigating the collector efficiency of silver na-
by adjusting the ratio of each component. A good match between ex- nofluids based direct absorption solar collectors, Appl. Energy 181 (2016) 65–74.
tinction spectrum and solar radiation spectrum is helpful to improve the [24] P.K. Jain, K.S. Lee, I.H. El-Sayed, M.A. El-Sayed, Calculated absorption and scat-
photothermal performance. Therefore, blended nanofluid 3 exhibits the tering properties of gold nanoparticles of different size, shape, and composition:
applications in biological imaging and biomedicine, J. Phys. Chem. B 110 (2006)
highest temperature rise rate than blended nanofluid 1 and blended 7238–7248.
nanofluid 2. According to the experiment, a heat transfer model is ap- [25] K.L. Kelly, E. Coronado, L.L. Zhao, G.C. Schatz, The optical properties of metal
plied to simulate the photothermal characteristics of nanofluids. The nanoparticles: the influence of size, shape, and dielectric environment, J. Phys.
Chem. B 107 (2003) 668–677.
results of simulation and experiment have the same trend. Before the
[26] C. Salzemann, A. Brioude, M.-P. Pileni, Tuning of copper nanocrystals optical
experiment, the photothermal performance of different nanofluids can properties with their shapes, J. Phys. Chem. B 110 (2006) 7208–7212.
be qualitatively compared by the simulation model, which can effec- [27] S. Kohnehpoushi, M. Eskandari, V. Ahmadi, M. Yousefirad, E. Nabavi, Effects of
morphology, diameter and periodic distance of the Ag nanoparticle periodic arrays
tively reduce the times and cost of experiment.
on the enhancement of the plasmonic field absorption in the CdSe quantum dots,
Photon. Nanostruct. Fund. App. 21 (2016) 52–59.
[28] X. Liu, Y. Xuan, Full-spectrum volumetric solar thermal conversion via photonic
Acknowledgements nanofluids, Nanoscale 9 (2017) 14854–14860.
[29] H. Wang, F. Tam, N.K. Grady, N.J. Halas, Cu nanoshells: Effects of interband
transitions on the nanoparticle plasmon resonance, J. Phys. Chem. B 109 (2005)
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science 18218–18222.
Foundation of China (Grant No. 51506044), the Fundamental Research [30] J.J. Diao, G.D. Chen, Electromagnetic cavity resonant absorption of the gold na-
noshell, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 34 (2001) L79–L82.
Funds for the Central Universities, China (2018B15614), and, the [31] R.D. Averitt, D. Sarkar, N.J. Halas, Plasmon resonance shifts of Au-coated Au2S
Shenzhen Science and Technology Plan, China (Grant No. nanoshells: insight into multicomponent nanoparticle growth, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78
JSGG20160819150017627). We would like to thank Jia Zeng (from Nanjing (1997) 4217–4220.
[32] Y. Hu, R.C. Fleming, R.A. Drezek, Optical properties of gold-silica-gold multilayer
University of Science & Technology) for his kind help in the experiment. nanoshells, Opt. Exp. 16 (2008) 19579–19591.

7
H. Duan, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 161 (2019) 114192

[33] J. Rodríguez-Fernández, I. Pastoriza-Santos, J. Pérez-Juste, F.J.G.d. Abajo, L.M. Liz- [41] S.K. Das, S.U.S. Choi, W. Yu, T. Pradeep, Nanofluids: Science and Technology, John
Marzán, The effect of silica coating on the optical response of sub-micrometer gold Wiley & Sons, 2007.
spheres, J. Phys. Chem. C 111 (2007) 13361–13366. [42] J. Jeon, S. Park, B.J. Lee, Analysis on the performance of a flat-plate volumetric
[34] H. Duan, L. Tang, Y. Zheng, C. Xu, Effect of plasmonic nanoshell-based nanofluid on solar collector using blended plasmonic nanofluid, Sol. Energy 132 (2016)
efficiency of direct solar thermal collector, Appl. Therm. Eng. 133 (2018) 188–193. 247–256.
[35] H. Duan, Y. Xuan, Enhanced optical absorption of the plasmonic nanoshell sus- [43] N.J. Hogan, A.S. Urban, C. Ayala-Orozco, A. Pimpinelli, P. Nordlander, N.J. Halas,
pension based on the solar photocatalytic hydrogen production system, Appl. Nanoparticles heat through light localization, Nano Lett. 14 (2014) 4640–4645.
Energy 114 (2014) 22–29. [44] C.F. Bohren, D.R. Huffman, Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles,
[36] X. Liu, Y. Xuan, Defects-assisted solar absorption of plasmonic nanoshell-based John Wiley & Sons Inc, New York, 1998.
nanofluids, Sol. Energy 146 (2017) 503–510. [45] R.A. Taylor, P.E. Phelan, T.P. Otanicar, R. Adrian, R. Prasher, Nanofluid optical
[37] W. Lv, P.E. Phelan, R. Swaminathan, T.P. Otanicar, R.A. Taylor, Multifunctional property characterization: towards efficient direct absorption solar collectors,
core-shell nanoparticle suspensions for efficient absorption, J. Sol. Energy Eng. 135 Nanoscale Res. Lett. 6 (2011) 1–11.
(2013) 021005. [46] C.M. Cobley, S.E. Skrabalak, D.J. Campbell, Y. Xia, Shape-controlled synthesis of
[38] J. Zeng, Y. Xuan, Enhanced solar thermal conversion and thermal conduction of silver nanoparticles for plasmonic and sensing applications, Plasmonics 4 (2009)
MWCNT-SiO2/Ag binary nanofluids, Appl. Energy 212 (2018) 809–819. 171–179.
[39] J. Jeon, S. Park, B.J. Lee, Optical property of blended plasmonic nanofluid based on [47] W.D. Drotning, Optical properties of solar-absorbing oxide particles suspended in a
gold nanorods, Opt. Exp. 22 (2014) A1101–A1111. molten salt heat transfer fluid, Sol. Energy 20 (1978) 313–319.
[40] M.F. Modest, Radiative Heat Transfer, Academic press, 2013.