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Fluid Dynamics Seminar

Monday, Oct 30, 2006, 4:15 PM
Cullimore Lecture Hall, Room 611
New Jersey Institute of Technology

Structure, Rheology, and Thermal Conductivity of Nanotube and Nanoparticle Suspensions

Jerry Shan

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Rutgers University

Abstract

Recent experiments show that liquid suspensions of carbon nanotubes and other particles can display large changes in their viscosity and thermal conductivity under electric or magnetic fields. The changes are reversible when the field is removed. Such "smart" fluids with tunable heat-transfer applications. We present our recent experimental data on the electrorheology of carbon-nanotube suspensions, as well as on the thermal conductivity of suspensions of magnetic particles under magnetic fields. We discuss optical measurements of the structure of these suspensions under external fields, and describe the basic mechanisms that could explain the observed changes in viscosity and conductivity.