Electrical conductivity of titanium dioxide ethylene glycol-based nanofluids: Impact of nanoparticles phase and concentration

Nanofluids containing titanium oxide nanoparticles are one of the most often investigated by researchers and their properties such as viscosity or thermal conductivity were largely reported. On the other hand, electrical conductivity of this type of nanofluids are often omitted. Therefore, this paper reports experimental data on the electrical conductivity of ethylene glycol based nanofluids with three types of titanium dioxide nanoparticles dispersed in it. Samples of all nanofluids were prepared in mass fraction between 0.01 and 0.20, and for this purpose well known two-step method was used. The electrical conductivity was measured in temperature range from 10 to 45°C. The results show effect of TiO2 nanoparticles content on electrical conductivity of ethylene glycol as well as the influence of nanoparticles phase. The highest enhancement has been noted for anatase at lowest tested temperature. Finally the experimental data were compared to available models and a new theoretical correlation was proposed.