In situ reduction of graphitic oxide by amorphization of magnesium diboride for the superior thermo-optical property based nanofluid applications

The reaction of magnesium diboride with water results in an intermediate borohydride product which leads to the simultaneous reduction of graphitic oxide (GO) and the formation of magnesium hydroxide. In this work, the thermo-optical properties of magnesium diboride modified reduced graphene oxide–based nanofluids have been explored. The study primarily focuses on the reaction mechanism of magnesium diboride and GO by using liquid exfoliation technique. Suspension after liquid exfoliation mainly consisted of a turbid supernatant and precipitate which was composed of boron-based nanosheets (CBNs) and a composite of magnesium hydroxide and reduced graphene oxide (CBNs-rGO), respectively. Nanofluids were subsequently formulated from the obtained products of the reaction. CBNs form a stable suspension in water and ethylene glycol because of its attached borohydrides and hydroxyl hydrophilic sites. CBNs nanofluids show good thermal conductivity with poor light absorption properties in the visible wavelength range. Whereas, CBNs-rGO nanofluids show ~95% attenuation in the radiation with a significant enhancement of ~30% and 20% in thermal conductivity as compared with Deionized water– and ethylene glycol–based fluids, respectively.