Recent advances of plasmonic nanofluids in solar harvesting and energy storage

Energy depletion has become an unavoidable problem with deepening of industrialization and population explosion. Solar energy has been widely used because it is regarded as the most sustainable energy resource. However, the relatively low energy density associate with its fluctuation characteristic are great challenges lying on the road of practical utilization. High thermal conductivity and localized surface plasmon resonance effect of nanofluids make them to be a good candidate for solar energy harvesting working fluid, especially in micro/nano scale device. So far, numerous works have been dedicated in studying the photothermal conversion performance of nanofluids either in their thermophysical properties or mechanism behind, while a comprehensive review in the advances of nanofluids in practical application of photothermal device is still lack to the best of our knowledge. In this work, applications of nanofluids in photothermal conversion, such as solar collectors, solar thermal evaporation, green building, photothermal therapy etc. were summarized and discussed. Meanwhile, the chemical modifications effect of nanoparticles on the photothermal conversion efficiency and the characterization and mechanism of photothermal conversion of nanoparticles are summarized and analyzed. Moreover, outlooks and prospects for the research of nanofluids in photothermal conversion applications are provided.