Abdelhak Hadj Sahraoui

Assessment of calibration procedures for accurate determination of thermal parameters of liquids and their temperature dependence using the photopyroelectric method

We present a systematic theoretical and experimental investigation on the accuracy of thermal diffusivity α and thermal effusivity e of liquids measured by the photopyroelectric (PPE) method in back-detection configuration (BPPE). Special cases corresponding to different cell structures are analyzed in terms of error determination of α and e for water and ethylene glycol. We propose a new normalization procedure allowing for estimation of these parameters with accuracy of 2% on α and 5% on e over extended frequency range. The normalization eliminates the frequency-dependent influence of the transducer impedance and associated electronics, reduces the errors due to coupling fluid between cell components, and reduces the number of temperature-dependent parameters that must be known in order to characterize the sample. Technical solutions for improving the performances are suggested. Another goal of the study was to demonstrate the possibility of the BPPE method to yield small variations of thermal parameter...

Evidencing Molecular Associations in Binary Liquid Mixtures via Photothermal Measurements of Thermophysical Parameters

Abstract The back photopyroelectric (PPE) configuration, with opaque sample and thermally thick sample and sensor, was applied in order to obtain room temperature values of the thermal diffusivity of some liquid mixtures. The methodology is based on a samples thickness scan, and not on a frequency scan as is usually the case. The possibility of precisely controlling the samples thickness variation leads to very accurate and reproducible values for the thermal diffusivity. The method is proposed as an alternative for evidencing molecular associations in binary liquid mixtures.

Current mode versus voltage mode measurement of signals from pyroelectric sensors

Usually, in photothermal experiments using pyroelectric sensors, the instrumental transfer function is cancelled by normalization to reference measurements, regardless of current (C) or voltage (V) mode processing of signals. Nevertheless, there are several advantages when using a current preamplifier, instead of a high-impedance voltage preamplifier. Due to the low input impedance of the former, the capacitance of the sensor (and its temperature dependence), the capacitance of the connection cable, and the loss resistance of the pyroelectric crystal do not influence the signal. Moreover, the whole input circuitry is less prone to electromagnetic pick up through stray capacitances. In (C) mode, the frequency characteristic is linear (with −180° constant phase) up to a rather high frequency, instead of having (in V mode) a 1/f dependence above a certain frequency and a variable phase shift from 0° to −90°.

Transport properties in heterogeneous compacted granular media made of carbon nanotubes and potassium bromide

Thermal properties of pellets composed of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), single-walled or multiple-walled, and potassium bromide have been investigated via photothermal radiometry. Pellets containing 2 wt % CNT show a significant enhancement in thermal conductivity (k) by at least four times. However, when the concentration of a CNT is raised to 3 wt % or higher, a sudden drop in k is observed whereas the electrical conductivity keeps increasing and follows the percolation law. The thermal conductivity data have been modeled and interpreted in terms of a morphological transition between a compacted and an unconsolidated granular media.

Improved methods for measuring thermal parameters of liquid samples using photothermal infrared radiometry

High accuracy, non-contact measuring methods for finding thermal properties of liquid samples using photothermal infrared radiometry (PTR) are presented. The use of transparent windows to confine micro volume liquid samples and the implementation of front and/or back signal detection procedures helped the successful implementation of the PTR technique for measuring liquids with high proficiency. We present two configurations, the so-called back?front photothermal infrared radiometry and back photothermal infrared radiometry to find thermal diffusivity and thermal effusivity of liquid samples. Sensitivity studies and error analyses included prove the robustness of each method. As an illustration of the temperature and electric field varying studies, we have included the experimental results on a 5CB (4-cyano-4?-pentylbiphenyl) liquid crystal.

Heat transport in polymer-dispersed liquid crystals under electric field

The concepts of effective thermal conductivity and interfacial thermal contact resistance in composite media are applied to study heat transport in polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLC). In these systems, the thermal properties of liquid crystal inclusions are changed by an imposed electric field. The photopyroelectric (PPE) technique with a cell allowing the application of an electric field to the sample is used to measure the thermal parameters. A model based on effective medium approximation is used to assess the impact of interfaces on the flow of heat through the determination of the Kapitza radius. It was found that the effect of interfaces becomes dominant compared to the volume conduction of the droplet when the liquid crystal (LC) droplet radius becomes smaller than 1 micron. The comparison of the thermal behavior of LC in the droplets with that of bulk liquid crystal allowed to evaluate the effect of confinement on the LC nematic phase.

New methodology for the thermal characterization of thermoelectric liquids.

A new and accurate method for the thermal characterization of thermoelectric liquids is proposed. The experiment is based on a self-generated voltage due to the Seebeck effect. This voltage is provided by the sample when one of its two faces is thermally excited using a modulated laser. The sample used is tetradodecylammonium nitrate salt/1-octanol mixture, with high Seebeck coefficient. The thermal properties of the used sample (thermal diffusivity, effusivity, and conductivity) are found and compared to those obtained by other photothermal techniques. In addition to this, a study of the electrolyte thermal parameters with the variation of tetradodecylammonium nitrate concentration was also carried out. This new method is promising due to its accuracy and its simplicity.

Photopyroelectric (PPE) calorimetry of composite materials

The front photopyroelectric configuration was applied to measure the thermal effusivity of some composite materials, inserted as backing layers in the detection cell. The technique is based on the scanning procedure of the coupling fluid’s thickness (TWRC method). Two particular composite materials were selected for investigation: (i) a liquid one: water based nanofluids with gold nanoparticles and (ii) a solid one: urea—fumaric acid (1:1) cocrystal. The thermal effusivity was found independent on the size and concentration of gold particles. Concerning the urea—fumaric acid cocrystal, the thermal effusivity value of the compound is different from the pure starting materials, indicating the formation of the compound.

Use of Photothermally Generated Seebeck Voltage for Thermal Characterization of Thermoelectric Materials

A simple and accurate experimental procedure to measure simultaneously the thermal properties (conductivity, diffusivity, and effusivity) of thermoelectric (TE) materials using their Seebeck voltage is proposed. The technique is based on analysis of a periodically oscillating thermoelectric signal generated from a TE material when it is thermally excited using an intensity-modulated laser source. A self-normalization procedure is implemented in the presented method using TE signals generated by changing the laser heating from one side to another of the TE material. Experiments are done on a polyaniline carbon nanohybrid (6.6 wt.% carbon nanotubes), yielding a thermal conductivity of 1.106 ± 0.001 W/m-K. The results are compared with the results from photothermal infrared radiometry experiments.

Thermal transport investigation in a CNTs/solid matrix composite

The evolution of the thermal parameters of solid-solid composites based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (single-walled (SWNT) and multi-walled (MWNT)) were studied. A granular potassium bromide (KBr) material was chosen as a matrix. The evolutions of the dynamic thermal parameters (diffusivity, effusivity and conductivity) of the composites as a function of the weight fraction of the CNTs inclusions were obtained using the photoacoustic technique. The experimental evolution of the thermal conductivity of the composites with the CNTs loading showed two distinct behaviours, an increase up to around 2% of CNTs loading followed by a decrease. A heat transport model has been proposed to account for these two different observed trends providing a consistent explanation of the experimental data.