Performance optimization of a hybrid PV/T solar system using Soybean oil/MXene nanofluids as A new class of heat transfer fluids

In this research, a new class of nanofluid is successfully formulated from Soybean oil and MXene (Ti₃C₂) particles to implement as working fluid on a hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) solar collector for performance optimization. This study emphasizes on the preparation of the Soybean oil/MXene (SO/Ti₃C₂) nanofluid, optical and thermal characterization of the nanofluid including suspension stability. The SO/Ti₃C₂ nanofluid samples are formulated suspending two-dimensional (2D) MXene particles at 0.025–0.125 wt% concentrations into pure Soybean oil. SEM, UV–vis, FTIR and TGA analysis are performed for morphology, optical and thermal stability characterization respectively. Achieved thermal conductivity results of SO/Ti₃C₂ nanofluid for 0.125 wt% of Ti₃C₂ exhibited 60.82% enhancement at 55 °C compared to pure Soybean oil. The specific heat capacity (c_p) of formulated nanofluids is measured employing a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Maximum c_p augmentation is found to be 24.49% at 0.125 wt% loading of Ti₃C₂ in the base oil. Numerical implementation of the prepared SO/Ti₃C₂ nanofluids on PV/T is performed using COMSOL Multiphysics software resulted noteworthy improvement compared to conventional water, Alumina/water and MXene/palm oil nanofluids as working fluid. Overall thermal effectiveness of the PV/T system is achieved 84.25% using SO/Ti₃C₂ nanofluids at 0.07 kg/s mass flow rate. Furthermore, employing the nanofluids electrical output of the PV/T is improved by 15.44% in comparison with water/alumina nanofluids at an irradiance of 1000 W/m² and mass flow rate of 0.07 kg/s. The stated findings indicate overall effectiveness of the Soybean oil based MXene nanofluids over conventional fluids used for cooling purpose in the PV/T collector.