BUKU ABSTRAK - Universiti Putra Malaysia

Science, Technology & Engineering
Work on applications of nanofluids can be restricted due to unavailable conductivity meter for nanofluids
in the market. This study is concerned with design and development of a conductivity meter for nanofluids for
temperature range of 20 o C-50 o C for copper oxide and alumina with distilled water as base fluid. This temperature
range is in accordance with ordinary thermal applications and our empirical limitations. The meter is comprised
of the components such as a plastic water bath, an electrical heater, some thermometers, an electrical motor, a
fan, an electrical transformer, and a 100ml Pyrex beaker. In this method both conduction and convection were
considered to measure the thermal conductivity of moving fluids. Calibration and verification of the equipment
by using distilled water showed a significant agreement to conductivity standard value of ASTM standard.
Results showed that CuO-distilled water has higher thermal properties than alumina-distilled water, and that
means particles with higher thermal conductivity make higher conductive nanofluids. For example percentage of
thermal conductivity rising for 2% mass CuO-distilled water in 45 o C is equal to 33.5% but this value for alumina
is equal to 26%. Among our nanofluids, 4% mass particle concentration of CuO-distilled water gave the highest
conductivity value and least is 1% mass particle concentration of alumina-distilled water. Result also showed that
this meter can give the conductivity value of 0.001 decimal places. Finally it can be concluded that nanofluids
can consider as new generation of thermal fluid with higher thermal conductivity than traditional thermal fluids.
They also can increase the efficiency of thermal equipments.
Keywords: Nanoconductivity meter, nanofluids
Design, Fabrication and Characterisation of Copper Selenide based Thin Film
Semiconductor as Photovoltaic Cell
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainal Abidin Talib
Mohd. Firdaus Mohd. Yusof, Josephine Liew, W. Mahmood Mat Yunus, Zulkarnian Zainal and Abdul Halim
Shaari
Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
03-8946 6606; zainalat@science.upm.edu.my
The photovoltaic electricity (PV cell) offers a limitless and environmentally friendly source of electricity.
The materials used were usually from selenium, which has similar properties with silicon. In earlier study,
it is known as ‘photocell’ and the efficiency of the cell was only 1%. Metal chalcogenide compounds with
semiconductor structure have the capacity for its physical properties to change continuously as the chemical
composition of the compound is altered. This behaviour makes them important for sensor and laser materials,
thin film polarisers, and thermoelectric cooling materials. Among the metal chalcogenides that have received
extensive attention is copper selenide (CuSe). CuSe has the ability to form ternary compound, CuInSe2 or other
multinary materials by integrating indium into the binary compound. Various application such as solar cells,
super ionic conductors, photo-detectors, photovoltaic cells and Shottky-diodes have been associated with this
metal chalcogenide compound. Knowing the physical properties (such as structural, optical, electrical, thermal
properties) of the Se based semiconductor will bring advancement of basic material physics and in important
technological application such as device substrate characterization and processing control. The scientific data
for the dependency of the fabrication condition and physical properties for semiconductor performance would
contribute to the advancement of solar cell device fabrication in Malaysia, which are needed in order to solve
many fundamental and technological aspects, and to reduce the production costs for making photovoltaic
competitive in front more classical energy production systems.
Keywords: Metal chalcogenide semiconductor, thin films, p-n juctions, photovoltaic applications
Development of Nanoconductivity Meter for Nanofluids
Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Nor Mariah Adam
Nor Mariah Adam, Azmi Zakaria, Halim Abdullah and Seyed Sharafaldin Hosseini
Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
+603-8946 7541; Mariah@eng.upm.edu.my
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