The relation between volume fraction and mass fraction is as follows: (6) where ρ f and ρ np are solvent density and NP density, respectively. Using Equation 5, one can obtain the SHC of the nanofluid (c p,nf) at any mass fraction (α’) from the measured SHC of the nanofluid (c p,m) at a certain mass fraction (α) for a given NP size. The predictions Entinostat using Equation 5 for the SHCs of the nanofluids at

various concentrations having 13-nm alumina NPs (red solid line) and 90-nm alumina NPs (blue dash line) based on the measured SHCs at 4.6 vol.%, along with the experimental results, are also shown in Figure 5. As Figure 5 shows, the predictions from the proposed model agree well with the experimental results. The large difference between the predictions of Equations 5 and 1 is from the result of the nanolayer effect on the SHC. This could be better understood by PFT�� looking at the third term in the numerator of Equation 4. Since the weight of nanolayers (W layer ’) increases as particle concentration increases, it results in a further reduced SHC, provided that the nanolayer has a lower SHC than that of molten salt. Furthermore, the increase of SHC with increasing particle size is also

a result of the nanolayer effect. For a given NP concentration, the nanolayer effect increases as particle size reduces since the number of particle increases with reducing particle size. Thus, one observes Savolitinib manufacturer a decreased SHC as particle size reduces, and Celecoxib particle concentration increases because of the augmentation of the nanolayer effect.

Conclusions In conclusion, we have explored the SHC of the molten salt-based alumina nanofluid. The NP size-dependent SHC in the nanofluids had never been reported before and cannot be explained by the current existing model. We found that the reduction of the SHC of nanofluid when NP size reduces is due to the nanolayer effect, since the nanolayer contribution increases as particle size reduces for a given volume fraction. A theoretical model taking into account the nanolayer effect on the SHC of nanofluid was proposed. The model supports the experimental results in contrast to the existing model. The findings from this study are advantageous for the evaluation of the application of nanofluids in thermal storage for solar-thermal power plants. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Dr. C-W Tu and Dr. S-K Wu of the Industrial Technology Research Institute and Prof. Chuanhua Duan of Boston University for the helpful discussion about the heat capacity of the nanofluid. The authors would also like to acknowledge the Green Energy and Environmental Laboratory of the Industrial Technology Research Institute for the use of their equipment for the heat capacity measurement. The funding support for this study is from the National Science Council of Taiwan (Grant no. NSC 101-2623-E-009 -001-ET). References 1. Choi SUS: Enhancing Thermal Conductivity of Fluids with Nanoparticles.