Rice University scientists have created a nano-infused oil that could greatly enhance the ability of devices as large as electrical transformers and as small as microelectronic components to shed excess heat.
Research in the lab of Rice materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan could raise the efficiency of such transformer oils by as much as 80 percent with an environmentally friendly material.
The Rice team focused their efforts on nanofluids for energy systems. Electrical transformers are filled with fluids that cool and insulate the core and windings inside, as well as components that must remain separated from each other to keep voltage from leaking or shorting.
The researchers discovered that a very tiny amount of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) particles, two-dimensional cousins to carbon-based graphene, suspended in standard mineral oils are highly efficient at removing heat from a system.
The h-BN particles, about 600 nanometers wide and up to five atomic layers thick, disperse well in oil and, unlike highly conductive graphene, are highly resistant to electricity. The team also determined that the oil’s viscosity is minimally affected by the presence of the nanoparticle fillers.
