Theory 17/Nanoscale/Nanofluids
Nanofluid Conductivity Is a Mean-Free-Path Ratio
The claim
The thermal conductivity enhancement of a nanofluid is set by the ratio of particle size to phonon mean free path, so the same loading enhances differently across particle sizes.
01Mechanism
Interface scattering dominates when particles are comparable to the mean free path; larger particles behave more like bulk inclusions.
02Prediction
Enhancement should track the ratio.
03Refutation
Enhancement tracking volume fraction would remove the size term.