Optical properties of mixed nanofluids containing carbon nanohorns and silver nanoparticles for solar energy applications

Different kinds of nanofluids show peculiar characteristics. In this work, a mixed nanofluid consisting of single-wall carbon nanohorns and silver nanoparticles aqueous suspensions is prepared and optically characterized, in the perspective to merge the favorable optical characteristics of carbon nanohorn-based nanofluids to the good thermal properties of silver-nanofluids. For the samples, both the spectral extinction and the scattering albedo at discrete wavelengths have been investigated. The silver nanoparticle plasmonic peak in the visible range further improves the overall nanofluid sunlight absorption properties, opening interesting perspectives for using such mixed nanofluids as solar absorber and heat transfer media in solar thermal collectors.