Characterization and Nanofluid Stability of CoFe2O4-APTES and CoFe2O4-PVA Nanoparticles

Nanofluid contains nanoparticles that enhanced the property of the base fluid. However, the separating layer between the nanoparticles and base fluids may interfere the nanofluids performance. Studies have been made that surface modification of nanoparticles may improve the dispersion of nanoparticles in base fluids. This paper reports the study of the colloidal stability of surface modified nanoparticles using a polymer and an amino-silane. The nanoparticles were prepared by one-step and two-step methods using cobalt iron oxide nanoparticles with brine solution and deionized water as the base fluids. Functionalization by surface modification of the nanoparticles to enhance the nanofluids stability was carried out using (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Characterization using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) were performed to study the functionality and morphology of the synthesized nanoparticles. The extra IR peaks such as Si-O-Si at 1063 cm-1 for CoFe2O4-APTES and C=O at 1742 cm-1 for CoFe2O4-PVA showed that there are additional elements in the cobalt ferrite due to functionalization. The size of synthesized CoFe2O4-APTES ranged between 15.99 nm to 26.89 nm while CoFe2O4-PVA is from 25.70 nm to 54.16 nm. The stability of the nanofluid were determined via zeta potential measurements. CoFe2O4-APTES nanofluid has zeta potential of -35.7 mV compared to CoFe2O4-PVA at -15.5 mV.