Settling characteristics of nanoparticles in ethanol-water mixtures

Nanofluids are dilute suspensions of functionalized nanoparticles having diameter
less than 100 nm. Settling of nanoparticles due to gravity is a natural phenomenon and
the only predicament towards their usage in industrial scale. Knowledge of
sedimentation behavior of nanoparticles is a topic of great interest as not much
information is available on the settling characteristics of nanosuspensions in different
combinations. Formation of agglomerates due to aggregation among particles in a
nanosuspension promotes the sedimentation process. Agglomeration takes place when
randomly moving particles come closer in a base liquid and join together due to
strong attractive forces to form particle clusters.