Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

An overview on current application of nanofluids in solar thermal

collector and its challenges
K.Y. Leong a,n, Hwai Chyuan Ong b, N.H. Amer a, M.J. Norazrina c, M.S. Risby a,
K.Z. Ku Ahmad a
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, Kem Sungai Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
c
Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, Kem Sungai Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The increase in energy demands and depletion of fossil fuel for power generation are the major concern
Received 23 June 2015 nowadays. Utilization of renewable energy sources can be regarded as one of the options to tackle these
Received in revised form issues. Renewable energy such as solar powered energy can be harnessed by using solar thermal col-
11 September 2015
lector. An efficient solar thermal collector must be coupled with fluids which possess superior thermal
Accepted 17 September 2015
and optical properties. New generation of heat transfer fluid such as nanofluid is proven to have good
prospect to be utilized in the solar collector. Thus, this article reviews the current researches on appli-
Keywords: cation of nanofluids in solar collector and probable challenges that might need to be faced in the
Nanofluids development of an efficient solar thermal collector with nanofluid.
Application
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Solar collector
Challenges
Heat transfer
Thermal energy

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1093
2. Preparation of nanofluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1094
3. Optical properties of nanofluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1094
4. Models related to nanofluids' optical properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1095
4.1. Rayleigh scattering approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1095
4.2. Maxwell–Garnett effective medium approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1095
4.3. Lambert–Beer approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1095
5. Works on optical properties of nanofluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096
6. Application of nanofluids in solar collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1097
6.1. Experimental works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1097
6.2. Theoretical, numerical or simulation works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1099
7. Challenges of nanofluids operated solar thermal collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103
7.1. Stability of nanofluids with respect to length of time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103
7.2. Increase in nanofluid's viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103
7.3. Inconsistent results among the researchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103
7.4. Design of the solar collector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103
7.5. Operation cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103
8. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103

n
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 60 3 90513400x4436; fax: þ60 3 90513472.
E-mail address: leongkinyuen@gmail.com (K.Y. Leong).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.09.060
1364-0321/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105 1093

Acknowledgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103

1. Introduction shape such as spherical, cylindrical and etc. Figs. 3 and 4 show
typical scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray powder dif-
Over the past decades, energy consumption has increased sig- fraction (XRD) images of typical carbon nanotube, respectively.
nificantly due to the improvement in life's quality and indus- Numerous studies have found that the addition of nanoparticles
trialization processes. This has widened the gap between the energy will improve the thermal properties of conventional base fluids such
demand and supply [1]. This is worsened by the depletion of fossil as thermal conductivity, and convective heat transfer coefficient
based energy. Apart from that, the utilization of fossil fuel based [5–9]. Recently, a number of studies have been focusing on optical
energy gives adverse effect to the environment due to formation of properties and photo thermal characteristic of the nanofluids. The
by-products such as greenhouse gasses. All of these issues have studies are divided into experimental analyses and theoretical ana-
contributed to one of the major concerns in the world today: The lysis [10–14]. The studies indicated that improvement in optical
needs of a sustainable energy. Thus, renewable energy such as solar properties for nanofluids compared to that of base fluids was
energy has begun to attract more attention than before [2]. observed. Base fluid such as water, although is known as the best
Moreover, Tian and Zhao [3] utilization of renewable energy solar absorber, is only absorbing 13% of the energy [12]. Optical
such as solar energy provides promising solution to address global properties of the absorber's fluid have significant effect on the effi-
warming as well as achieve sustainable development. ciency of the solar collector. It determines the effectiveness of the
Solar thermal (solar collector) and photovoltaic (PV) systems fluid in absorbing the incoming solar radiation. Furthermore, with
are typical applications of solar energy. In the solar thermal sys- improved thermal conductivity characteristic, nanofluid based
tem, it will absorb the solar radiation, where the heat will be absorber provides the opportunity to produce higher convective heat
transferred to the working fluid. Bandarra Filho et al. [4] stated transfer coefficient which will facilitate the heat transfer processes.
that, the current collectors in recent studies possess low energy
conversion efficiencies. The efficiency depends on the perfor-
mance of the absorber in capturing the solar energy and also the
performance of heat transfer process of the working fluid. Solar
thermal collector is defined as a heat exchanger that converts solar
radiation to thermal energy within the working fluid filled in the
solar thermal system. The absorbed heat carried by the working
fluid such as water or air is then stored within a thermal energy
storage tank for future use or used to provide domestic hot water
heating. The stored thermal energy can be used later at night or
during the cloudy days. The absorption of solar radiation by the
solar thermal collector can be classified into two types which are
indirect and direct absorption. In indirect absorption, the sun
radiation heats the tube or metallic absorber plate, consequently
the fluid inside the tube is indirectly heated by convection as
illustrated in Fig. 1. Flat plate solar collector uses this approach.
As for the second type, the fluid directly and volumetrically
absorbs solar radiation. No tubes are available in the solar collector
configuration as shown in Fig. 2. The advantages of direct
absorption solar collector are able to minimize the convection
loses and higher efficiency compared to that of indirect absorption.
Fig. 2. Direct absorption solar collector.
Indirect absorption such as flat plate solar collector has higher
thermal resistance than direct absorption solar collector.
The suspensions of nanoparticles in the fluids have been
extensively studied since the middle 90s. These suspensions are
known as “nanofluids”. Common type of particles often used in
nanofluid's related researches are alumina, titanium dioxide, carbon
nanotube, copper and etc. It must in nano-size and can be in various

Fig. 1. Indirect absorption solar collector (Flat plate). Fig. 3. Scanning electron microscope image of carbon nanotube.
1094 K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105

Table 1
Comparison of nanofluid's fabrication process used in solar collector/direct
absorption researches.

Nanofluids Fabrication Surfactant Reference

MWNT raw process
Lin (Counts)

MWCNTþ H2O Two-step Triton X-100 [31]

MWCNTþ H2O Two-step Triton X-100 [35]
Al2O3 þH2O Two-step Triton X-100 [36]
binary mwnt Al2O3, ZnO and Two-step Yes [37]
Fe2O3 þH2O
CuO þ H2O Two-step No surfactant [38]
TiO2 þ H2O Two-step No surfactant [39]
Cu þ EG (Ethylene One step No surfactant [40]
binary clay
glycol)
TiO2, Al2O3, Ag, Cu, Two-step Cetyltrimethylammonium [41]
SiO2, graphite, bromide
3 10 20 30
CNTþ Texatherm
2-Theta - Scale oil
Fig. 4. Typical X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) of multiwalled carbon nanotube. SiO2 þ H2O Two step No surfactant [42]
CuO þ H2O Two-step No surfactant [43]
CuO þ H2O and Two-step sodium dodecyl sulfonate [44]
Apart from the effectiveness of the absorber plate, the convective Al2O3 þ H2O
heat transfer of the nanofluids-based absorber is also an important Al2O3 þH2O Two-step No surfactant [45]
factor in affecting the overall efficiency of a solar collector system. Grapheneþionic Two-step No surfactant [46]
liquid
This paper will fully focus on the preparation method, optical
CNT þoil Two-step No surfactant [47]
properties as well as the application of nanofluids based absorber
in the solar thermal collector. Overview of the past and current
studies conducted by various researchers from various literatures Besides the surfactant, the surface modification through func-
will be included. On top of that, the challenges and future direc- tionalization process is often applied to carbon nanotube. Carbon
tion of nanofluids based absorber in solar thermal collector are nanotube is well known due to its hydrophobic surface in nature.
discussed as well. This makes it prone to aggregation and precipitation in base fluids
such as water [32]. In this process, the mixture of acid is used to
attach the hydrophilic functional group onto the carbon nanotube
2. Preparation of nanofluids surfaces. The hydrophilic type surface can be transformed from the
hydrophobic form with this surface treatment. Numerous resear-
Tremendous development in nanotechnology has made it ches proposed this technique to produce a stable carbon nanotube
possible to fabricate metallic and non-metallic materials in the based nanofluids [5,33–34].
form of nanodimension (nanoparticles). Since it is in nano-scale, As for the single step method, it requires high end, sophisti-
the nanoparticles exhibit different physical and chemical char- cated equipment enabling the production and dispersion of
acteristics compared to that of bulk materials [9,15]. Production of nanoparticles into base fluid to be carried out simultaneously. This
nanoparticles is classified into two categories namely physical and method is more preferable in producing the metallic type of
chemical process. Some of the common nanoparticles used in solar nanoparticles such as copper. Particles oxidation can be prevented
collector's nanofluids related researches are carbon nanotube, by using this approach [15]. Table 1 shows the comparison of
alumina, titanium dioxide and also silver. nanofluid's fabrication processes used in solar collector researches.
Nanofluids can be produced either by single-step or two-step It can be said that most of the researches that related to solar
method. In the two-step method, the nanoparticles which are collector produced the nanofluids via two-step method.
produced either by physical or chemical synthesis will then be
dispersed into fluid via ultrasonic disruptor or high pressure
homogenizer. The only disadvantage or limitation of this method 3. Optical properties of nanofluids
is the possibility of particles sedimentation and aggregation with
respect to time. This is due to the particles' high surface energy, Optical properties of base fluid can be substantially enhanced
van der waal attraction between particles and gravity forces. by the addition of nanoparticles. Particle's type, size, shape and
Producing a stable and durable nanofluids is crucial to ensure volume concentration play an important role on nanofluid's opti-
optimal thermal properties for the nanofluids [16]. cal properties such as scattering and absorption. This allows its
To ensure a stable and durable production of the nanofluids, optical properties to be tailored based on various applications [48].
stabilizer agent or surfactant is needed to provide repulsive force Taylor et al. [49] revealed that if the particle's volume fraction is
to overcome the particle's attraction force. Surfactant is defined as very high, the incoming light from solar radiation is absorbed in a
long organic molecules that possess both hydrophilic and lipo- thin surface layer, resulting thermal energy losses to the envir-
philic groups. Addition of surfactant is one of the effective meth- onment. However, if the particles' loading is too low, nanofluids
ods to produce homogenous suspensions. The surfactant will be will not able to absorb the solar radiation. It shows that better
capable in changing the particle's surface activity, pH levels and understanding on optical properties of nanofluids is very crucial in
reducing the particle's surface energy. Moreover, this surfactant order to develop an efficient solar thermal collector.
will generate more repulsive force between the particles [17], Apart from scattering and absorption, extinction coefficient is
Ghadimi et al. [16] also stated that, surfactant is capable of chan- also one of the important optical properties of nanofluids.
ging particles' hydrophobic surfaces to hydrophilic and vice versa Extinction coefficient is defined as an imaginary component of
for non-aqueous liquids. Surfactants that are commonly used in complex refractive index. It is dependent on several factors such as
the nanofluid's related researches are SDBS, Gemini, gum Arabic, nature of the particle and its size, dielectric constant of the med-
CTAB, chitosan and Triton X-100 [10,18–31]. ium, temperature as well as the total number of nanoparticles in a
 K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105 1095

system. It is noted that this extinction coefficient is the summation particle diameter between 10–50 nm are often used. The wavelength
of absorption and scattering coefficients. of the incident light from sun must be at least 10 times larger.
According to Hossain et al. [50], absorption is referred as inci- Scattering (Qs), absorption (Qa) and extinction (Qext) efficiencies
dent light's losses when it passes through the working medium. are shown in Eqs. (2)–(4) respectively.
With reference to nanofluids, absorption for both nanoparticles


8
m2  1

2
and base fluid must be considered. However, authors mentioned Q s ¼ α4

2 ð2Þ
3 m þ 1

that simple summation of these two is not enough due to the
unusual characteristic of nanoparticles in the base fluid. On the  2    
m 1 α2 m2  1 m4 þ 27m2 þ38
other hand, addition of nanoparticles into base fluid provides Q a ¼ 4αIm 1þ ð3Þ
m þ2
2 15 m þ 2
2 2m þ 3
2
additional obstacles for the incident light which force the light to
deviate from its original path. This loss is known as scattering. The Q ext ¼ Q s þ Q a ð4Þ
effect of scattering is negligible if the nanoparticle's diameter is
less than 10 nm. Their effect will be more dominant when the where m represents relative complex refractive index of nanofluids
particle's size increases [51]. Apart from that, the effect of scat- while α is size parameter.
tering also can be neglected when the particle's volume fraction is Taylor et al. [49] stated that Qs of nanofluids is very small
less than 0.6% [49]. Furthermore, the scattering effect will be very compared to that of Qa., therefore extinction coefficient mext, particles
small if the nanoparticles are far apart (well dispersed). is simplified as expressed in Eq. (5)
According to Wu et al. [52], surface plasmon resonance plays a 3 f v ðQ a þQ s Þ 3 f v Q a
vital role that affect the extinction coefficient during the processes μext; particles ¼ ¼ ð5Þ
2 D 2 D
of absorption and scattering. Surface plasmon resonance is the
where fv is the particle's volume fraction and D is the particle's
collective oscillation of surface electron illuminated by incident
diameter.
light. It exists when the light photons' frequency matches the
During the development of Eqs. (2)–(5), base fluid is assumed
natural frequency of electrons that oscillate against the restoring
transparent. However water is good absorber at near infrared and
force of positive nuclei. The authors added that for metallic
infrared radiation. Consequently, base fluid extinction coefficient
nanoparticles or nanostructures, localized surface plasmon reso-
μext; base fluid is illustrated in Eq. (6)
nance creates sharp spectral absorption and scattering peaks. At
the same time, strong electromagnetic near field enhancement is 4πkbase fluid
μext; base fluid ¼ ð6Þ
produced when the size is smaller than incident wavelength. λ
where k is complex component of refractive index.
Nanofluids's total extinction coefficient is the summation of
4. Models related to nanofluids' optical properties base fluid and nanoparticles' extinction coefficient as depicted in
Eq. (7)
There are several popular models used by the researchers to
describe the optical properties of nanofluids. The models are: Ray- μext; total ¼ μext; base fluid þ μext; nanoparticles ð7Þ
leigh scattering approach, Maxwell–Garnett effective medium, Lam-
bert–Beer approach and Mie and Gans approach, TL and I-scan 4.2. Maxwell–Garnett effective medium approach
method and discrete dipole approximation. However, only Rayleigh
scattering, Maxwell–Garnett and Lamber–Beer approaches are dis- Eq. (8) represents effective complex refractive index (dielectric
cussed in the present article since these approaches are simpler constant) εeff for composite material such as nanofluids.
compared to that of other models. Each of these models or approa- 2 3
ε ε
ches has their own limitations. For examples, Hossain et al. [50] 3f v εppþ 2εf f
4
ϵeff ¼ εf 1 þ 5 ð8Þ
revealed that Rayleigh scattering approach provides only extinction ϵ  2ε
1  f v ϵpp þ 2εff
value. This model only works well for very low particles' loading
which scattering effect is negligible. Taylor et al. [49] stressed that where εp is dielectric constant for particle while εf is fluid's
Maxwell–Garnett approach is not a suitable model to calculate dielectric constant.
nanofluid's extinction coefficient. The large difference between keff The components of the refractive index can be calculated via
(imaginary part of complex refractive index) for water and metal in Eqs. (9) and (10) once the effective dielectric constant is obtained.
visible range contributes to this conclusion. Lastly, Lambert beer's law vqffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
does not consider the effect of particle's size and shape. u ε02 þ ε002 þ ε0
t eff eff eff
neff ¼ ð9Þ
2
4.1. Rayleigh scattering approach
vq
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u ϵ02 þ ϵ002  ε0
Taylor et al. [49] adopted model based on Rayleigh scattering t eff eff eff
approach. The assumptions of this approach are (a) scattering is keff ¼ ð10Þ
2
negligible (independent), (b) same size of particles and are assumed
in spherical form, (c) particles are very small, (d) Particles' volume where ε0 is the real component of dielectric constant and ε″ is the
concentration is less than 0.6%, (e) Optical properties of nano- imaginary component of dielectric constant.
particles are similar as their bulk materials, (f) Nanoparticles are of
graphite or any type of metal. 4.3. Lambert–Beer approach
Dimensionless particle size diameter ðαÞ is based on Eq. (1)
Based on Lambert Beer Law, the intensity of light at a distance
πD
α¼ ð1Þ (r) is expressed as
λ
I ðr Þ ¼ I o e  μext r ð11Þ
where D is the diameter of nanoparticles and wavelength of incident
light is represented by λ. Both D and λ must in same units in order to where Io represents the intensity of light while I(r) intensity at
obtain dimensionless α. According to Taylor et al. [49] average distance r.
1096 K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105
Extinction coefficient is the summation of absorption and
scattering coefficient as shown in Eq. (12)
μext ¼ μa þ μs ð12Þ
5. Works on optical properties of nanofluids
In recent studies, there are noticeable amount of works devoted
to investigating the optical characteristics of nanofluids. It is
widely known that the optical properties change drastically even
with small amount of nanoparticles added into base fluid. Taylor
et al. [49] used experimental measurement and modeling (Max-
well Garnett) approach to investigate nanofluid's optical proper-
ties. Extinction coefficient of base fluid and nanoparticle were
added together to produce nanofluid's extinction coefficient.
Results from both experimental and modeling were compared.
From this study, the results from modeling works well with water
based nanofluids added with graphite nanoparticles compared to
samples added with metallic nanoparticles or oil base fluids. They
also concluded that nanofluids could be used to absorb sunlight
without noticeable increase in viscosity.
Meng at al. [53] dispersed carbon nanotube treated by HNO3
into glycol suspension. The effect of nanoparticles mass fraction on
photo-thermal properties was investigated as well as the thermal
conductivity and rheological characteristics. For the photo-thermal
measurement, the CNTs glycol nanofluids were filled in quartz
tubes. These tubes were placed into an insulation box where the
front side of the insulation box was cut open and faced to a 250 W
high pressure mercury lamp. This lamp was used to simulate
sunlight. Temperature of the nanofluid samples was raised gra-
dually when the samples were exposed to the light. The study
revealed that strong absorption characteristic is recorded at
wavelength range from 200–2500 nm. 18% augmentation in terms
of photo-thermal conversion efficiency is detected for 0.5% mass
fraction of this nanofluid compared to that of base fluid.
Lee et al. [10] reiterated that incident solar energy can be
completely absorbed in the penetration depth of 10 cm using
water added with 0.0005 vol% of MWCNT. Extinction coefficient of
the sample is found to be proportional with the volume con-
centration of MWCNT ranging from 0.0005 to 0.005 vol%. The
experiment setup for this study is illustrated in Fig. 5. It uses the
concept of Lambert–Beer law to obtain the extinction coefficient.
Experimental data were then compared against Maxwell–Gar-
nett model and Rayleigh scattering approximation. Findings
showed that the Maxwell–Garnett model is not suitable to predict
extinction coefficient precisely whereas Rayleigh scattering can
qualitatively predict this property.
Sajid et al. [14] revealed that the optical properties of nanofluid
changes with time as well as the growth of nanoparticles. The
authors used Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to monitor
the development of nanoparticles' cluster and their size. In
Fig. 5. Extinction coefficient measurement system based on Lambert Beer Law [10].
addition, zetasizer was used to obtain the size of aggregates as
well as zeta potential. Finally, UV–vis spectroscopy was used to
measure the optical properties of water based Al2O3 nanofluids.
This study implied that extinction coefficients of nanofluid
decrease significantly with time within visible to near IR region.
Furthermore, they found that Quasi Crystalline and Rayleigh
approaches are inadequate to estimate the optical properties in
ultraviolet region.
Said et al. [54] concluded TiO2 based nanofluids has promising
optical properties compared to that of Al2O3 based nanofluid
although they are less stable. There are good opportunity for TiO2
based nanofluids to perform as a good solar irradiation absorber if
this problem is addressed accordingly. Both experiment and ana-
lytical measurements (based on Rayleigh, Maxwell–Garnett and
Lambert–Beer's approaches) were applied in this study. The sam-
ples were prepared at two volume percentages namely 0.1 and 0.3%.
A study by Zhang et al. [55] showed that optical absorption
property of ionic liquid [HMIM][MTF2] is noticeably augmented by
adding very small particle's volume fraction. In this experiment, the
nanofluids were prepared via two-step method while no surfactant
was added. Double beam UV–vis–NIR spectrophotometer was used
to measure the optical properties while wavelength ranging from
200 to 2500 nm was selected. Their study indicated the extinction
coefficient of Ni based nanofluid is higher than nanofluids con-
taining Cu nanoparticles at the similar size (40 nm) and volume
fraction (10 ppm) due to their different complex refractive indexes.
The experiment extinction coefficient was also determined based
on Lambert Beer law. In addition, lower transmittance and higher
extinction coefficient is observed for carbon-coated Ni (Ni/C) based
nanofluids compared to that of Ni based nanofluids with the same
particle's average size. The study also implies that radiative prop-
erties of Ni/C are proportional to particle's volume fraction. Finally,
authors concluded that ionic based nanofluids seem suitable to be
used as absorber in solar thermal collector.
Karami et al. [56] performed functionalization process on car-
bon nanotube in order to address the hydrophobic nature of car-
bon nanotubes. The author claimed that this is the first study on
the application of alkaline functionalized carbon nanotubes based
aqueous suspension for direct absorption solar collector. Similar
with previous study, the nanofluids' samples were prepared via
two-step method. The light from UV–vis spectrophotometer is not
able to pass through the samples if particle's volume fraction
greater than 150 ppm is chosen. Thus, samples were prepared at
particles volume fraction less than this value. In this research, it
was shown that there is substantial increase in the extinction
coefficient when small amount of functionalized nanoparticles are
added into the base fluid. Consequently, the authors concluded
that this type of nanofluid is capable to increase the overall effi-
ciency of low-temperature direct absorption solar collectors.
Another research on the functionalized MWCNT was done by
Hordy et al. [57]. Four types of base fluid were utilized in this study
namely; water, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol and Therminol VP-
1. They reiterated that MWCNTs have higher absorbing character-
istic over wide range of the solar spectrum even at low loading. The
enhanced property together with better stability make them sui-
table candidate as absorber in direct absorption solar thermal col-
lectors. Glycol based nanofluids exhibit long term stability at room
temperature compared to that of water based nanofluids.
Liu et al. [46] performed numerical and experimental study on
graphene/ionic liquid nanofluids. They found that graphene/ ionic
liquid nanofluid has lower transmittance compared to that of pure
[HMIM]BF4. About 100% sunlight absorption can be obtained at
higher concentration of graphene. As for the extinction coefficient,
this property is enhanced when graphene is added into the ionic
fluid. For instance, with the presence of 0.002 weight percentage
of graphene, the extinction coefficient increased about 5 cm  1.
 K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105 1097

Fig. 6. Schematic diagram of microsolar thermal collector [59].

Wu et al. [52] numerically investigated the effect of localized

surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) at the surface of composite
nanoparticles on the optical and thermal radiative properties of Fig. 7. Efficiency of solar collector operated with Al2O3 based nanofluids [36].

water-based plasmonic nanofluids. The selected composites were Si

or SiC which act as core with Au, Ag, Cu or Al shell. It is revealed that
appropriate selection of composite's radius ratio with required size
and concentration, the effect of LSPR can be fully utilized for efficient
solar energy absorption at visible and infrared wavelengths.

6. Application of nanofluids in solar collector

There are significant numbers of studies related to nanofluids

operated solar collector reported in the literatures. Experiment
related researches are described in Section 6.1 while Section 6.2
includes theoretical and numerical works.

6.1. Experimental works

Lu et al. [58] conducted an analysis on thermal performance of

an open thermosyphon using nanofluids for high-temperature
evacuated tubular solar collectors. The experiment was carried
out at indoor space by using deionized water and water-based CuO
nanofluids as the working liquid. Filling rate, type of base fluid,
nanoparticle's loading and operating temperature were investigated
in this study. An open thermosyphon was applied in an evacuated
solar heating system. It consists of tubular evaporator, condenser
and condensing coil. The tubular evaporator was made from copper
tube and angled (30 ° to the horizontal level) fixed. The dimensions
of copper tube are 1750 mm (length), 36 mm (inner diameter) and
1 mm (wall thickness). Condenser which fabricated from stainless
steel plates was a cylindrical tank with diameter of 180 mm and
300 mm length). Condensing coils are placed inside the condenser
box. It is recorded that, 1.2% particles concentration produces opti-
mum heat transfer enhancement effect.
Otanicar et al. [59] studied the efficiency of direct absorption
solar collector operated with nanofluids. The schematic diagram of
the micro-solar thermal collector used in this study is illustrated in
Fig. 6. Overall dimension of the setup is 3  5 cm2 with channel
depth of 140 mm. Microchannel is selected in order to minimize
the amount of nanofluids needed to fill the collector. The tested
nanofluids were carbon nanotubes, graphite and silver based
nanofluids. They reiterated that addition of nanoparticles into base
fluid improve the optical properties of base fluid, causing sig-
nificant increase in efficiency of direct absorption for the solar
collectors. The findings demonstrated that there is a rapid initial
increase in efficiency when particle volume fraction increased.
However, it is followed by slight reduction as the volume fraction
Fig. 8. Flat plate solar collector experiment setup [31].
continues to increase. Results from numerical model were also
compared with experiment results.
ASHRAE Standard 86-93 was used by Yousefi et al. [36] in their
flat plate solar collector experimental analysis. The absorption area
of this solar collector is 1.51 m2. The header and riser pipe as well
as the absorber sheet are made from copper. 45 ° tilt angle of flat
plate was used during the testing. Similar to other studies, factors
such as mass flow rate (1 to 3 l/min)), Al2O3 nanoparticles mass
fraction (0.2% and 0.4%), and inclusion surfactant were investi-
gated in this study. The instantaneous efficiency for various com-
binations of incident radiation, ambient temperature and inlet
fluid temperature were obtained in order to investigate the ther-
mal performance of solar collector. Experiment measurement was
performed to measure the incident solar radiation and energy
addition to the working fluid as it flows through the collector
under steady and quasi-steady state condition. It was concluded
that the addition of Triton X-100 produces favorable effect in
terms of flat plate solar collector's performance. In addition, 28.3%
increase in terms of efficiency is achieved for solar collector
operated with 0.2 wt% of Al2O3 based nanofluids. Fig. 7 shows
1098 K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105
some of the experiment results obtained in this study. Overall,
efficiency of solar collector performed better than base fluid.
The pH value of the nanofluids determines the repulsive force
(due to electric charge) of the nanoparticles. The larger the
deviation from the isoelectric point, the higher repulsive force can
be generated. Realizing this aspect, Yousefi et al. [31] varied the pH
values (3.5, 6.5 and 9.5) of the MWCNT based nanofluids. The pH
of the suspension was adjusted using hydrochloric acid and
sodium hydroxide As expected, enhancement in collector's effi-
ciency is observed for samples having large pH difference com-
pared to the isoelectric pH. The experiment setup used by the
authors is depicted in Fig. 8.
Another study done by Yousefi et al. [35] also revealed that
particles loading and addition of surfactant are important factor in
determining the efficiency of solar collector. The findings revealed
that samples with 0.2 wt% of MWCNT added with surfactant
increases the efficiency of solar collector compared to that of
sample without surfactant. Triton X-100 was used in this study.
Apart from that, Colangelo et al. [37] investigated the different
aspect of flat plate solar collector operated with nanofluids. They
focused on the method or design to reduce the particles' sedi-
mentation problem. Two flat panel solar collectors equipped with
transparent tubes were designed and fabricated. The first one is
similar with the commercial available collector while the second is
modified to produce constant velocity inside the bottom and top
header. This study successfully discovered that flow velocity is the
dominant factor in affecting the particles' sedimentation problems.
In order to address this problem, they modified the cross section of
the top and bottom header of the panel. Such modification will
maintain the flow rate, and consequently overcoming the
deposition of particles deposition.
Liu et al. [38] built an evacuated tubular solar air collector
integrated with simplified CPC (Compound parabolic con-
centrator) and open thermosyphon. They compared the collector
performance with the nanofluid or water as working fluid in the
thermosyphon. Apart from that, the thermosyphon was also sub-
stituted with a concentric tube. From the analysis, the authors
concluded that solar collector integrated with open thermosyphon
produces better performance. The schematic diagram of open
thermosyphon and concentric tube is illustrated in Fig. 9.
Jamal-Abad et al. [60] investigated the performance of flat plate
solar collector based on ASHRAE 93 standard. The required ASH-
RAE 93 environment conditions are:
Fig. 9. Comparison between open thermosyphon and concentric tube [38].
(a) 790 W/m2 of total solar irradiance normal to sun
(b) Maximum of 20% diffusion fraction
(c) Wind speed between 2.2 m/s and 4.5 m/s
(d) Incidence angle modifier 98%onormal incidence valueo102%.
Results showed that 24% improvement in terms of efficiency
can be achieved with 0.05 wt% of copper nanoparticles in water
base fluid.Chougule et al. [61] compared the performance of
wickless heat pipe solar collector operated with pure water and
carbon nanotube based nanofluids. In this research, the particle
loading and collector tilt angle variations were studied with values
0.15%, 0.45%, 0.60%, and 1% by volume and 20 °, 32 °, 40 °, 50 °, and
60 °, respectively. Overall, the authors have successfully deter-
mined the optimum CNT's loading which is able to produce best
performance. Chaji et al. [39] used European Standard EN 12975-2
to examine the effect of TiO2 in the small scale flat plate solar
collector. Apart from particle's loading, the authors also varied the
fluid's flow rate. Findings indicated that the index of collector
efficiency improved between 2.6 and 7% relative to base fluid at
the same condition.
Polvongsri et al. [62] installed three identical closed-loop flat
plate solar collectors. In this study, 20 nm silver particles were
added into water base fluid at 1000 and 10,000 ppm. Several
factors namely fluid mass fluxes (0.8–1.2 kg/min-m2) and inlet
temperature (35–65 °C) were varied to perform the analysis. It is
found that the convective heat transfer coefficient of silver based
nanofluids at 10,000 ppm was two times the value of the water.
Furthermore, the authors concluded that nanofluids could
enhance the efficiency of solar collector especially at high inlet
temperature.
Apart from Yousefi et al. [31], Goudarzi et al. [44] also inves-
tigated the effect of nanofluid's pH on cylindrical solar collector
with helical tube. Two types of nanofluids used in this experiment
were CuO-H2O and Al2O3–H2O nanofluids. The authors implied
that the higher differences between the nanofluid's pH and iso-
electric point produce better thermal efficiency of the solar col-
lector. Table 2 illustrates the comparison between CuO-H2O and
Al2O3–H2O nanofluids' solar collector.
Gupta et al. [45] studied the efficiency of Al2O3–water nano-
fluid's operated direct absorption solar collector at three flow-
rates of 1.5, 2 and 2.5 lpm. ASHRAE standard 93-86 was used in
their experiment. Utilization of nanofluids in this application
resulted in augmentation of collector efficiency. They found that
 K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105 1099

optimum flow rate that produce maximum solar collector's effi-
ciency for water and nanofluids are 2.5 and 2.0 l pm, respectively.
Kasaeian et al. [47] designed and manufactured a trough solar
collector. Carbon nanotube based oil nanofluids (0.2 and 0.3%)
were used as working fluid and tested in the vacuumed copper
absorber tube. The authors found that global efficiency of the
collector is enhanced about 4–5% when 0.2% of MWCNT/mineral
oil nanofluids are used. Higher enhancement, which is about 5–7%,
is recorded for MWCNT (0.3%)/mineral oil nanofluids. The authors
stressed that this augmentation is due to the improved heat
transfer coefficient and thermal conductivity of the nanofluids.
This is due to the effect of Brownian motion and formation of
particles cluster. The particles cluster acts as a bridge to transmit
more energy while nanoconvection is caused by the Brownian
motion. Effect of Brownian motion is more substantial when the
fluid is moving instead of in static condition.
6.2. Theoretical, numerical or simulation works
Tyagi et al. [63] numerically evaluated the efficiency of non-
concentrating direct absorption solar collector with nanofluids as
the working fluid. They also compared it against the flat plate
thermal collector. In this study, two-dimensional heat transfer
model which consider incident sunlight and effect of absorption
and scattering was developed and solved numerically in MATLAB.
It is found that efficiency of the collector is 10% higher than the flat
plate collector. Furthermore, modification of flat plate solar col-
lector's design may be able to overcome this problem. Low effi-
ciency of flat plate collector compared to that direct absorption
might attribute to the total thermal resistant in the flat plate
Table 2
Comparison between FRðταÞ and FRUL for CuO and Al2O3 nanofluids [44].
Nanofluid pH value FR (ταÞ
CuO 7 0.2482
CuO 3 0.3579
Al2O3 7 0.4581
Al2O3 10.5 0.8563
FR heat removal factor; τα absorptance–transmittance product; UL overall loss
coefficient.
system itself. Commonly, total thermal resistant in the flat plate
system is higher than the direct absorption type.
Environmental benefits of using nanofluid-based concentrating
solar water heating system were investigated by Vikrant Khullara
et al. [64]. The study indicated that there is a considerable amount
of emission reductions and fuel savings achieved if nanofluids
based concentrating solar collector is implemented. The schematic
diagram of the proposed solar water heating is depicted in Fig. 10
Alim et al. [65] performed another theoretical investigation on
entropy generation, augmentation heat transfer capability and
pressure drop of flat plate solar collector under laminar flow. In the
analysis, the plate is assumed painted black with single glass.
Overall absorption area is 1.51 m2 with plate's tilt angle of 20 °.
Glass thickness is assumed 4 mm while inner tube diameter is
0.01 m. This time, the authors concentrated on metal oxide based
water nanofluids namely Al2O3, CuO, SiO2 and TiO2. Particle load-
ings and flow rates were varied in their analysis from 1 to 4% and
1 to 4 l/min respectively. It is deduced that CuO based nanofluids
reduces 4.34% entropy generation. However, 1.58% increments in
pumping power are observed. The study also showed that the
friction factor of the tested nanofluids is almost similar to the water
based fluid. Table 3 detailed the findings from this analysis.
In other aspect, the enhancement of thermal conductivity of
nanofluids may lead to the production of smaller flat plate solar
collector to achieve similar desired fluid outlet temperature. It is
expected that smaller solar collector requires less energy during
the manufacturing process. Faizal et al. [66] estimated the embo-
died energy saved when producing nanofluids based solar col-
lector as shown in Table 4.
The study was done by considering input data obtained from the
literatures while nanofluid's thermo-physical properties were cal-
culated based on mathematical formulations. From the obtained
energy saving, authors translated the results to the emission
FRUL reduction of greenhouse gasses. It is found that environmental
damage cost for nanofluids based solar collector is much lower than
19.249
water based solar collector.
19.335
4.629 Ladjervadi et al. [67] developed the numerical codes to evaluate
7.4519 the performance of graphite based nanofluids in direct solar
energy absorption. The study simulated operating of solar collector
by solving radiative transport equations that consider mass,
momentum and energy. Their investigation covered the effects of
particle's size and volume fraction to the extinction coefficients
and efficiency of the tested solar collector. This study revealed that
outlet dimensionless temperature of the solar collector increases

Table 4
Energy saving for solar thermal collector using different nanofluids [66].

Water CuO SiO2 TiO2 Al2O3

nanofluid nanofluid

Embodied energy 1183 880 928 921 928

(MJ)
Fig. 10. Schematic of nanofluid-based concentrating solar water heating system Energy saving (%) 25.60 21.56 22.14 21.54
[64].

Table 3
Comparison of water and nanofluids as an absorbing medium (Volume percentage 3% at velocity 1 L/min, and laminar flow) [65].

Nanofluids Reduction of Increase in Reynolds number Nusselt number Thermal conductivity Improvement of con- Increase of
entropy generation pressure drop enhancement (%) enhancement (%) enhancement (%) vective heat transfer (%) pumping power
(%) (%)

CuO 4.34 1.58 13.61 12.35 8.79 22.15 1.58

TiO2 3.99 1.44 8.36 6.75 7.55 14.77 1.44
SiO2 3.94 1.42 7.59 5.47 8.83 14.77 1.42
Al2O3 3.94 1.42 7.56 5.42 8.87 14.77 1.42
1100 K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105
from 0.27 to 0.915 for 0.00025% graphite based nanofluids with
the minimum of cost increase (0.045 $/L).
Nasrin et al. [68] performed numerical analysis on solar col-
lector consists of glass flat plate with sinusoidal absorber as shown
in Fig. 11. The working fluid considered was Al2O3 based water
nanofluids. The study concluded that fluid with highest Prandtl
number produces greatest heat transfer.
Khullar et al. [69] found that nanofluid-based concentrating
parabolic solar collector has higher efficiency than the conven-
tional type of parabolic solar collector. In this theoretical analysis,
the mathematical models and governing equations is solved
numerically using finite difference approach. Their study included
factors such as solar incident angle, insulation and convective heat
transfer. Fig. 12 compares conventional receiver and nanofluid-
base concentrating solar collector.
In the nanofluid-based concentrating parabolic solar collector, the
sun radiation is directly absorbed by the nanofluid. As for the con-
ventional type, solar radiation is first absorbed by the absorber tube.
No direct contact between the heat transfer fluid and solar radiation.
Rahman et al. [70] added that augmentation of convective heat
transfer has its limit. In their investigation on natural convection
in triangular shape solar collector, they found that it would be
better if the particle volume fraction is maintained at 0.05 or 0.08
for better convective heat transfer performance. This numerical
study involved three types of nanofluids: Cu, Al2O3 and TiO2 based
nanofluids. The 2-dimensional view of the solar collector used in
their study is illustrated in Fig. 13.
Rehena et al. [71] performed numerical analysis on the flat
plate collector with sinusoidal corrugated absorber. Alumina and
copper nanoparticles were used in this study while the selected
base fluid is water. They systematically studied the temperature
and velocity distribution, radiative and convective heat transfer,
mean temperature and velocity of nanofluids. Improved heat
transfer performance of the collector is observed at highest
volume fraction of nanoparticles.
Fig. 11. Sinusoidal absorber flat plate solar collector [68].
Fig. 12. Conventional receiver and nanofluid-based concentrating parabolic solar collector [69].
Theoretical analysis on entropy analysis, heat transfer enhance-
ment and pressure drop of flat plate solar collector utilizing nano-
fluids was conducted by Said et al. [72]. Thermo-physical properties
of the nanofluids were obtained from correlation, literatures and
experiment. From this study, the authors compared several types of
nanoparticles namely Al2O3 SWNT SiO2 and TiO2. It was concluded
that SWCNT based nanofluids produced better thermal and exer-
getic efficiencies compared to other metal oxide nanofluids. This
study observed that 4.34% reduction in entropy generation and
15.33% augmentation of heat transfer coefficient can be achieved for
SWCNT based nanofluids. The only drawback is the slight penalty in
pumping power which is 1.20% higher.
Similar to previous researchers, Parvin et al. [73] also focused
on entropy generation analysis for solar collector utilizing copper,
silver and alumina based nanofluids. The heat lines and isotherm
through solar collector analysis are dependent on Reynolds num-
ber and particle volume fraction. It is revealed in the study that the
collector efficiency can be improved by almost two times by
increasing Reynolds number and particle volume fraction respec-
tively. Furthermore, the mean entropy generation increases by
increasing the Reynolds number and particle volume fraction.
However, when the particle volume fraction exceeds 3%, the mean
Nusselt numer and collector's efficient remain constant.
Simulation study on parabolic through collector was also con-
ducted by Sokhansefat et al. [74]. Alumina nanoparticles of up to
5% volume percentage were added into synthetic oil, while oper-
ating temperature of 300, 400 and 500 K were used in the analysis.
It is found that the heat transfer convection increases as the par-
ticles loading increased. However, the convection heat transfer
enhancement decreases as the absorber temperature is increased.
Fig. 13. Triangular shape solar collector [70].
Table 5
Summary of nanofluids solar collector related studies.

Types of study Type of solar collector Nanofluids Main dimensions Remarks and findings Reference

Experiment Flat plate Particles: MWCNT Base Absorption area: 1.51 m2 (a) The larger deviation of sample's pH to the isoelectric [31]
fluid: water point, the higher collector's efficiency is observed.
Experiment Flat plate Particles: MWCNT Base Absorption area: 1.51 m2 (a) Application of 0.2 wt% MWCNT nanofluid without sur- [35]
fluid: water factant decreases the efficiency of solar collector. However,
opposite finding was observed for 0.4 wt% MWCNT
nanofluids.
Experiment Flat plate Particles: Al2O3, Base fluid: Absorption area: 1.51 m2 (a) Effects of mass flow rate, nanoparticle mass fraction, and [36]
water surfactant on the collector's efficiency are included.
(b) 28.3% improvement in terms of collector's efficiency is
observed compared to that of base fluid.
(c) Addition of surfactant generates positive effect on col-

K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105
lector's efficiency.
Experiment Flat plate Particles: Al2O3, ZnO, Fe2O3 – (a) Focuses on nanofluid's stability (particles' sedimentation) [37]
Base fluid: water in solar collector.
(b) Particles sedimentation is found to be proportional
with flow's velocity.
(c) The velocity along the headers in the solar collector is
kept constant by introducing shape elements inside the
headers.
Experiment Evacuated tubular solar collector Particle: CuO Base fluid: Compound parabolic concentrator Width: (a) Evacuated tubular solar collector integrated with com- [38]
Water 320 mm Length: 1600 mm Height: pound parabolic concentrator and thermosyphon was tested.
146 mm Study implies that the collector with thermosyphon performs
better than the concentric tube.
(b) Collector's performance is significantly augmented
when water is replaced by nanofluid.
Experiment Flat plate Particle: TiO2 Base fluid: Absorber plate Length: 0.5 m Width: 0.2 m (a) Addition of nanoparticles into water improves the effi- [39]
Water ciency of the solar collector.
Experiment Helical tube solar collector Particle: CuO–Al2O3 Base Absorption area: 0.471 m2 (a) Higher differences between pH of nanofluid and iso- [44]
fluid: distilled water electric point resulted increase in thermal efficiency of solar
collector
Experiment Direct absorption Particle: Alumina Base fluid: Absorption area: 1.15 m2 (a) The collector efficiency for nanofluid compared to that of [45]
distilled water pure water for all flow rates. Optimum flow rate is recorded.
Experiment Parabolic trough collector Particle: MWCNT Base fluid: Parabola length: 2 m Parabola aperture: (a) The global efficiency of trough collector is augmented [47]
Mineral oil 70 cm Focal distance: 17.5 cm Aperture about 4–5% and 5–7%, when 0.2% and 0.3% MCNT/mineral oil
area: 1.4 m2 nanofluid is used respectivel.y
Experiment Evacuated tubular solar Particle: CuO Base fluid: Evaporator tube Length: 1750 mm Dia- (a) The performance of evacuated tubular solar collector [58]
collectors Water meter: 36 mm Thickness 1 mm equipped with thermosyphon operated nanofluids was
investigated.
(b) CuO based nanofluid enhances thermal performance of
the evaporator compared to that of base fluid.
2
Experiment and numerical Direct absorption solar collector Particles: carbon nanotubes, Collector: 3  5 cm Channel depth: (a) Efficiency augmentation of up to 5% is found for solar [59]
(DAC) graphite, and silver Base 150 mm collector with nanofluids as absorber fluid.
fluid: water
Experiment Flat plate Particle: Copper Base fluid: Collector Length: 1 m Width: 0.67 m (a) The efficiency of solar collector operated with nanofluid [60]
Water increases with the increase of particle loading.
(b) At 0.05 wt% of copper suspended in the base fluid, 24%
efficiency augmentation is recorded compared to base fluid.
Experiment Wickless heat pipe solar Particle: CNT Base fluid: Absorber plate Width: 100 mm Length: (a) Optimum CNT loading is obtained from this study. [61]
collector Water 510 mm Heat pipe Diameter: 12 mm
Length: 625 mm
Experiment Flat plate Particle: Silver Base fluid: 3 identical small flat-plates [1 m (L)  (a) Convective heat transfer coefficient of the tested nano- [62]
Water 0.15 m (W) each] fluids at 10,000 ppm loading is about two times higher than
base fluid (water)
Theoretical nonconcentrating direct absorp- Particle: Aluminium Base – [63]

1101
tion solar collector (DAC) fluid: Water
 1102
Table 5 (continued )

Types of study Type of solar collector Nanofluids Main dimensions Remarks and findings Reference

(a) 10% efficiency improvement is observed for nanofluids

Theoretical (Analytical)
Theoretical (Analytical)
Flat plate Particles: Al2O3, CuO, SiO2,
TiO2 Basefluid: Water (1–
4 vol%)
Flat plate Particles: CuO, SiO2, TiO2
and Al2O3 Base fluid: Water
Absorption area: 1.51 m2
– (a) Study found that there is a potential size reduction and
direct absorption based collector compared to that of con-
ventional flat plate which uses water.
(a) Investigation on entropy generation, heat transfer and [65]
pressure drop.
(b) CuO based water nanofluids exhibited the highest
entropy generation reduction.
(c) However, there is slight increment on pressure drop.
(d) Heat transfer augmentation is observed with the
increase of particle's volume fraction.
[66]
energy saving offered by solar collector operated with nano-

K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105
fluids. CuO based nanofluids offers the highest reduction
compared to other tested nanofluids.
Numerical Direct absorption solar collector Particle: Graphite Base fluid: Collector Height: 10 cm Length: 1 m (a) At 0.000025 vol% graphite based water nanofluids, it is [67]
Water discovered that solar irradiation absorption can reaches more
than 50% compared to only 27% absorption when pure water is
used.
Numerical Concentrating parabolic Particle: Aluminium Base Parabolic concentrator Width: 5 m Length: (a) Nanofluids operated parabolic solar collector produces 5– [69]
fluid: Therminol VP-1 7.84 m Focal length: 1.84 m Rim angle: 70° 10% higher efficiency compared to the conventional parabolic
solar collector
Numerical Corrugated bottom triangular Particles: Cu, Al2O3, and TiO2 2 inclined glass covers form the cavity with (a) Better convective heat transfer performance can be [70]
solar collector Base fluid: Water corrugated absorber plate. achieved if the particle volume fraction is kept at 0.05 or 0.08.
Numerical Flat-plate cover and sinusoidal Particles: Al2O3 and Cu Base – (a) Better thermal performance is observed at higher particle [71]
corrugated absorber fluid: Water concentration
Experiment (Measure specific heat Flat plate Particles: SWCNT, TiO2, SiO2, Absorption area: 1.51 m2 (a) 4.3% reduction in entropy generation is observed for [72]
and density of the samples) and Al2O3 Base fluid: Water SWCNT based nanofluid compared to that of water.
theoretical (Analytical) (b) 15.33% heat transfer coefficient increment is observed
for the same sample. Small penalty in pumping power is
found (1.2% higher)
Numerical Direct absorption Particle: Cu, Ag, Al2O3 Base Absorption plate area: 240 mm  240 mm (a) Entropy generation and heat transfer performance were [73]
fluid: Water investigated.
(b) Nusselts number and entropy generation increase
when the particle volume fraction and Reynold number are
increased.
(c) Nusselts number and Entropy generation remain con-
stant for particles volume fraction equals and greater than
3%
Numerical Parabolic trough collector Particle:Al2O3 Base fluid: Parabolic trough reflector: ZL  XL: (a) Convection heat transfer is dependent on volumetric [74]
synthetic oil 7.8 m  5 m Focal length: 1.84 m loading of nanoparticles
(b) Addition of nanoparticles into base fluid is proven to be
beneficial in terms of environment, heat transfer augmen-
tation and reduction of heat transfer area of the system.
 K.Y. Leong et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 1092–1105
They concluded that implementation of nanofluids provides pos-
sibility of environmental benefit, heat transfer improvement and
reduction of heat transfer area for heat exchangers and tubes.
Findings from various solar collector related studies can be
summarized as tabulated in Table 5.
7. Challenges of nanofluids operated solar thermal collector
The possible challenges and future prospects on application of
nanofluids in solar thermal collectors are discussed as follows:-
7.1. Stability of nanofluids with respect to length of time
This problem remains unsolved which prevent the commercia-
lization of nanofluids. Most of the experimental studies did not
consider the transient response of the nanofluids operating within
solar thermal collector. Stability of nanofluids affects not only the
thermal properties of nanofluids but also its optical properties. For
instance, Sajid et al. [14] revealed that the extinction coefficients of
the nanofluids are time dependent within visible to near IR region.
This is due to the aggregation and growth of the nanoparticles.
Consequently, the efficiency of the solar thermal collector can be
greatly affected. Apart from that, stability of the suspension at high
operating temperature must also be investigated. Characteristics of
the suspension at room and high temperatures are different for
each particle since particles' Brownian motion is intensified at high
temperature. Wu et al. [52] concluded that an ideal candidate of
nanofluid based solar absorber should possess improved absorbing
performance coupled with long term stability at high temperature.
7.2. Increase in nanofluid's viscosity
Addition of nanoparticles into base fluid definitely will increase
the nanofluid's viscosity. For instance, one of the best solar
absorbing fluids such as carbon nanotube based water nanofluids
exhibited higher viscosity enhancement even though the nano-
particles weight percentage is very low. As a result, higher pump
power is needed to operate the solar thermal collector. Increasing
the pump power to produce desired thermal performance is not
preferable as it will increase the operation cost of the system. In
order to justify the application of nanofluids in solar collector,
entropy analysis study should be emphasized. Presently, most of
the studies in entropy generation involved theoretical aspects
[65,72]. Experimental work on entropy generation and its perfor-
mance would be beneficial in this case since theoretical studies
might not give accurate results due to the ideal conditions con-
sidered in the analysis. In reality, the particles in the base fluid
might be clustered or accumulated.
7.3. Inconsistent results among the researchers
Most of the studies indicated that the thermal performance of
nanofluids operated solar collector increases with addition of
nanoparticles. However, few studies have revealed that the ther-
mal performance deteriorates once the certain particle loading is
exceeded. For instance, Yousefi et al. [35] in their study implies
that the efficiency of flat-plate solar collector for 0.2 wt% MWCNT
nanofluid is lower than that for water as base fluid. However when
added with 0.4 weight % of carbon nanotube, the solar collector
improved significantly. The obtained results are based on the
application of suspension without addition of surfactant.
1103
7.4. Design of the solar collector
The design of the solar collector affects the particles sedi-
mentation. This was studied by Colangelo et al. [37]. This study
identified that by maintaining constant mass flow rate of the fluid,
the particles' sedimentation can be addressed. Thus, modification
of the solar collector design is required. Although these authors
came out with a new design, more comprehensive study is still
needed in this area.
7.5. Operation cost
In authors' opinion, the operation cost of nanofluids operated
solar collector will definitely be higher than the same system
operated with base fluid due to the increase in viscosity. This may
not be the issue if the energy saving cost due to improved effi-
ciency of solar collector is much higher than operation cost.
Techno-economic analysis as well as the payback period analysis
must be covered by the researchers in this field. To the author's
best knowledge, there is no study related to this topic available in
the open literatures.
8. Conclusion
This article reviews the present development and researches on
nanofluids operated solar collector. Recent development in this
field indicates that application of nanofluid in this thermal system
showed promising performance. Most of the researchers focused
their researches on flat plates and direct absorption solar collec-
tors. Concentrating solar collector such as trough solar collector
has been given less attention among the researchers. In another
aspect, there are several issues that needs further investigation,
namely the stability of nanofluid, effect of variation on viscosity
and cost, and lastly design optimization of the solar collector. All of
these issues should be addressed before nanofluids can be fully
utilized and commercialized in this area.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Higher
Education, Malaysia and Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia
for their financial support under FRGS/2/2014/TK01/UPNM/03/1.
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