Investigation of time–temperature dependency of heat capacity enhancement in molten salt nanofluids
Syed Muhammad Mujtaba Rizvi,Baha El Far,Yousof Nayfeh,Donghyun Shin
RSC Advances Pub Date : 06/16/2020 00:00:00 , DOI:10.1039/D0RA03666H
Abstract

In this study, the time–temperature dependency of heat capacity enhancement in molten salt nanofluids was studied experimentally. The result shows the heat capacity enhancement is directly related to the time-dependent synthesis process. Various samples of a binary salt mixture of Li2CO3–K2CO3 doped with 1% Al2O3 were prepared by heating and cooling at different rates (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 °C min−1) along with the pure binary salt mixture. The samples were then tested for heat capacity using a differential scanning calorimeter. It was found that heat capacity enhancement in molten salt nanofluids depends on the heating and cooling rates during the synthesis. Recent studies have shown that the heat capacity enhancement observed could be due to the formation of dendritic structures. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and a pH variation method were employed to confirm the presence of dendritic nanostructures.

Graphical abstract: Investigation of time–temperature dependency of heat capacity enhancement in molten salt nanofluids