Colloidal stability of magnetic nanoparticles in molten salts

Molten salts are important heat transfer fluids used in nuclear, solar and other high temperature engineering systems. Dispersing nanoparticles in molten salts can enhance the heat transfer capabilities of the fluid. High temperature and high ionicity of the medium make it difficult to make a colloidally stable dispersion of nanoparticles in molten salts. The aggregation and sedimentation kinetics of different nanoparticles dispersed in molten salts is studied, and trends of settling rates with system parameters like particle size, temperature and concentration are observed. Finally, a hypothesis based on ultra low values of Hamaker coefficient is suggested in order to achieve long term colloidal stability in molten salts medium.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Somani, Vaibhav (Vaibhav Basantkumar)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• T. Alan Hatton and Jacopo Buongiorno.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/59250

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/59250