Ionic nanofluids: preparation, characteristics, heat transfer mechanism, and thermal applications

Large-scale research is underway to sort out the prolonged challenge of excessive heating of mechanical and electrical components. One of the facile ways to address the aforementioned challenge is to develop thermophysical stable and easy to prepare heat carrier fluids. Ionanofluids are the result of such efforts and these newly developed fluids portray appealing features for applications like photothermal conversion, thermal energy transportation, thermal management, and metallic lubrication owing to their suitable thermophysical and optical characteristics. Ionic liquids carry good solar spectral absorption and with the inclusion of nanoadditives the absorption range gets further broadened, which results in significant performance improvement. The energy storage capacity of these fluids is also found to be quite impressive. Moreover, ionanofluids carry the noteworthy electrolytic potential for Li-ion batteries. This chapters present a detailed discussion on preparation methodologies, thermophysical characteristics, and physiochemical science of ionanofluids with a focus on major influencing parameters, and heat transferring mechanisms in the ionanofluids. Furthermore, a brief overview of potential applications of ionanofluids and some of the associated challenges and prospects are also discussed. Viscosity and thermal conductivity are the most significant factors for thermal applications and these fluids carry vast potential for broad applications.