Special Issue on Recent Developments of Nanofluids

Recent advances in nanotechnology have allowed the development of a new category of fluids termed nanofluids. A nanofluid refers to the suspension of nanosize particles, which are suspended in the base fluid with low thermal conductivity. The base fluid, or dispersing medium, can be aqueous or non-aqueous in nature. Typical nanoparticles are metals, oxides, carbides, nitrides, or carbon nanotubes. These shapes may be spheres, disks, rods, etc. By using these additives, one can increase the heat transfer coefficient and consequently enhance the heat transfer value and performance of base fluids. Some of these fluids can be considered Newtonian fluids, but in many applications the Newtonian model is not very accurate; therefore, it has generally been acknowledged that non-Newtonian fluids exhibiting a nonlinear relationship between the stresses and the rate of strain are more appropriate in technological applications as compared to Newtonian fluids. Many industrial fluids are non-Newtonian in their flow characteristics and are referred to as rheological fluids, such as slurries (china clay and coal in water, sewage sludge, etc.) and multiphase mixtures (oil-water emulsions, gas-liquid dispersions, such as froths and foams, butter). Further examples displaying a variety of non-Newtonian characteristics include pharmaceutical formulations, cosmetics and toiletries, paints, synthetics lubricants, biological fluids (blood, synovial fluid, salvia), and food stuffs (jams, jellies, soups, marmalades), etc. Moreover, simulation of boundary layer flow of nanofluids is another aspect of this special issue that has various applications in engineering and industrial disciplines. Existing literature indicates that despite a vast range of application, the investigation on proposed title was still scant. Consequently, researchers are invited to contribute their original research and review articles with this hope that this special issue will also serve as a forum for presenting innovative and new developments quite relevant for the scope of this special issue as specified in keywords. A total of 12 papers were submitted for possible publication in this special issue. After a comprehensive peer review, only eight papers qualified to get the acceptance for final publication. The rest of papers could not be accommodated. The submissions were technically correct, but were not considered appropriate for the scope of this special issue. The authors are from geographically distributed countries such as China, Romania, South Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. This reflects the great impact of the proposed topic and the effective organization of the guest editorial team of this special issue.