Investigation of evaporation characteristics of ionic liquids/H2O and MWCNT ionanofluids/H2O mixture based on their viscosity and chemical properties

This paper experimentally investigated the evaporation characteristics of [HMIM][BF4], [HMIM][TfO], [HMIM][Tf2N], and [C12MIM][Tf2N] ionic liquids/H2O mixture as well as MWCNT ionanofluids/H2O mixture. The relation between the ionic liquid/H2O mixture evaporation was investigated by analyzing the chemical properties calculated using the Gaussian software package and the experimentally measured viscosity. As a result, H2O was easily evaporated in ionic liquids with low viscosity and a high dipole moment. In addition, as the amount of MWCNT nanoparticles in MWCNT ionanofluid increased and the given pressure decreased, the evaporation rate increased. The 0.5 wt% MWCNT ionanofluid showed higher viscosity than the ionic liquids, and the H2O evaporation flow rate of MWCNT ionanofluid was increased compared to those of the ionic liquids due to the smaller specific heat of MWCNT nanoparticles and the increased heat transfer area. The evaporation characteristics between ionic liquids or ionanofluids and H2O mixtures can be controlled by using the chemical properties and viscosity of the two substances that help to manufacture the optimal working fluid required in the system. •Ionic liquid/H2O mixture evaporation was investigated by analyzing its properties.•H2O in ionic liquids with low viscosity and high dipole moment were easily evaporated.•Ionanofluid and H2O mixture presented higher evaporation than ionic liquid mixture.•Evaporation characteristics can be controlled by using chemical properties.