This paper presents the preparation and thermal/physical characterization of phase change materials (PCMs) based on poly(ethylene glycol) 400 g·mol⁻¹ and nano-enhanced by either carbon black (CB), a raw graphite/diamond nanomixture (G/D-r), a purified graphite/diamond nanomixture (G/D-p) or nano-Diamond nanopowders with purity grades of 87% or 97% (nD87 and nD97, respectively). Differential scanning calorimetry and oscillatory rheology experiments were used to provide an insight into the thermal and mechanical changes taking place during solid-liquid phase transitions of the carbon-based suspensions. PEG400-based samples loaded with 1.0 wt.% of raw graphite/diamond nanomixture (G/D-r) exhibited the lowest sub-cooling effect (with a reduction of ~2 K regarding neat PEG400). The influences that the type of carbon-based nanoadditive and nanoparticle loading (0.50 and 1.0 wt.%) have on dynamic viscosity, thermal conductivity, density and surface tension were also investigated in the temperature range from 288 to 318 K. Non-linear rheological experiments showed that all dispersions exhibited a non-Newtonian pseudo-plastic behavior, which was more noticeable in the case of carbon black nanofluids at low shear rates. The highest enhancements in thermal conductivity were observed for graphite/diamond nanomixtures (3.3–3.6%), while nano-diamond suspensions showed the largest modifications in density (0.64–0.66%). Reductions in surface tension were measured for the two nano-diamond nanopowders (nD87 and nD97), while slight increases (within experimental uncertainties) were observed for dispersions prepared using the other three carbon-based nanopowders. Finally, a good agreement was observed between the experimental surface tension measurements performed using a Du Noüy ring tensiometer and a drop-shape analyzer.

The continuous development of electrical systems and high voltage transformers builds the need for looking for new insulating media or to improve the insulating properties of commercially available transformer oils (TO) by various modification techniques. One of these techniques is the modification of existing mineral oils by the addition of different types of nanoparticles in various concentrations. These types of materials, suspensions of nanoparticles called nanofluids, have found numerous applications in the energy industry, especially in heat exchanger systems and solar cells. Much research has been done on attempts to replace mineral oils (MO), which are harmful for the environment, with natural ester oils (NE), but to make this possible, it is necessary to improve the insulating properties of these oils, for example by adding nanoparticles. This paper presents an extensive overview of the insulating properties; including for AC, DC and the lightning impulse breakdown voltage; for both mineral and natural ester oils containing various type of nanoparticles (NP). It is presented that the use of nanofluids could improve the efficiency of existing high voltage infrastructures with a low financial cost.