BIBLIOS

Document type
Journal articles

Document subtype
Full paper

Title
The Balance between Energy, Environmental Security, and Technical Performance: The Regulatory Challenge of Nanofluids

Participants in the publication
Maria José Lourenço (Author)
Dep. Química e Bioquímica
CQE
João Alexandre (Author)
MINISTÉRIO DA ECONOMIA E INOVAÇÃO
Charlotte Huisman (Author)
Xavier Paredes (Author)
Dep. Química e Bioquímica
CQE
Carlos Nieto de Castro (Author)
Dep. Química e Bioquímica
CQE

Summary
Nowadays, numerous studies on nanomaterials (NMs) and Nanofluids (NFs) are account a plethora of applications. With the scientific society’s common goal of fulfilling the target of sus-tainable development proposed by the UN by 2030, it is necessary to combine efforts based on the scientific and technological knowledge already acquired, to apply these new systems with safety. There are thousands of publications that examine the use of NFs, their benefits and drawbacks, properties, behaviors, etc., but very little is known about the safety of some of these systems at a laboratory and industrial scale. What is the correct form of manipulating, storing, or even de-stroying them? What is their life cycle, and are they likely to be reused? Depending on the nano-particles, the characteristics of the base fluid (water, propylene glycol, or even an ionic liquid) and the addition or not of additives/surfactants, the safety issue becomes complex. In this study, gen-eral data regarding the safety of NF (synthetic and natural) are discussed, for a necessary reflec-tion leading to the elaboration of a methodology looking at the near future, intended to be sus-tainable at the level of existing resources, health, and environmental protection, paving the way for safer industrial and medical applications. A discussion on the efficient use of nanofluids with melanin (natural NM) and TiO2 in a pilot heat collector for domestic solar energy applications il-lustrates this methodology, showing that technical advantages can be restricted by their environ-ment and safety/security implications.


Institution
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA

Where published
Nanomaterials

Publication Identifiers
ISSN - 20794991

Address
Switzerland

Publisher
MDPI AG



Document Identifiers
DOI - https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11081871
URL - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11081871

Rankings
SCIMAGO Q1 (2021) - 0.919 - Materials Science

Keywords
Nanofluids IoNanofluids Materials colloids Security EU Regulation Heat collector Efficiency

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