Gram-Scale Green Synthesis of Copper Nanowire Powder for Nanofluid Applications

Abstract

Copper nanowire is a promising new filler for nanofluids for cooling applications. Elongated one-dimensional nanostructures such as nanowires provide a percolated network for fast conduction of heat in the low conducting fluid. In this study, copper nanowires have been synthesized in gram-scale via wet chemical reduction with ethylenediaminemediated anisotropic growth. In similar existing protocols, around 2.4 kg of NaOH is discharged per gram of Cu nanowires, whereas, in the present method, unreacted reactants have been successfully recycled for subsequent batches after precise quantification by a combination of titration, spectroscopy, and chromatography. Such green synthesis (zero discharge) of copper nanowires in powder form has been reported for the first time. The improved method also reduces the cost of production substantially. Extensive characterization of the product has been carried out using field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis to ensure the quality of the material. The effect of different reaction conditions on product quality has also been studied. Finally, copper nanowire powder was dispersed in ethylene glycol to prepare nanofluids that show a significant enhancement (20%) in thermal conductivity at low loading (0.15 vol %).

Controllable reconstruction of copper nanowires into nanotubes for efficient electrocatalytic nitrate conversion into ammonia

“…For the preparation of hierarchical CuO NTs, Cu nanowires were first prepared according to the reported method. 40 Specifically, 200 mL of NaOH solution (15 M) was heated to 60 °C in a water bath and 1.45 mL of EDA solution was added with stirring. Two minutes later, 10 mL of Cu(NO 3 ) 2 solution (0.1 M) and 0.14 mL of N 2 H 4 ·H 2 O (80%) were dropped into a mixture solution successively.…”

A review on potentials and challenges of nanolubricants as promising lubricants for electric vehicles

“…For example, Maji and Chakraborty dispersed copper nanowire powder in ethylene glycol to create nanofluids with a substantial increase in thermal conductivity (20%) at low loading (0.15 vol%). 177 In another case, Zhang et al synthesised silver nanowires prepared by the poly-vinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and their nanofluid dispersions were investigated. 178 It was found that when loading 0.46 vol% silver nanowires in ethylene glycol, the thermal conductivity enhancement of nanofluids are as high as 13.42%.…”

Preparation of Copper Nanoplates in Aqueous Phase and Electrochemical Detection of Dopamine

“…The performance of nanoparticles in various applications greatly depends on their morphologies and surface chemistries [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Recently, the various copper nanoparticles in shapes such as a wire, rod, cube, polyhedron, disk, sheet, and triangle/hexagonal plates have been obtained by developing the “bottom-up” approach [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”