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Hybrid Au-ZnO/(water-ethylene glycol)-nanofluid based PV/T spectral beam splitter for efficient photo-harvesting

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  • Chougule, Sandesh S.
  • Gaikwad, Bhagyashree A.
  • Inbaoli, A.
  • Ajayan, Anand
  • Saha, Sandip K.
  • Estellé, Patrice

Abstract

Persistent challenges in photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems with nanofluids (NFs) arise from colloidal instability, reducing optical absorption and thermal conductivity, which this study addresses through the techno-economic analysis and performance evaluation of a hybrid Au- zinc oxide (ZnO)/(W-EG) nanofluids as a spectral splitter for enhanced photo-harvesting. ZnO nanosheets (NSs) and Au nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesised via a reagent-free electrophoretic method and citrate reduction. The hybrid Au-ZnO/(W-EG) NF, dispersed in a 50:50 W-EG mixture, exhibited a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peak at 540 nm and UV absorption at 370 nm, reducing UV transmittance to near zero while maintaining 87–97 % visible transmittance at 5–50 ppm Au-NP concentrations. Stability tests showed the Au-ZnO/(W-EG) NF retained 90 % absorption (A/A0) for over 100 h, outperforming ZnO/(W-EG) (<14 h). In a PV/T system under 1000 W/m2 solar irradiance, the NF at 50 ppm achieved a total efficiency (ηtotal) of 76.24 % (ηth: 64.62 %, ηel: 11.62 %), a 7.42-fold enhancement over 5 ppm (ηtotal: 70.97 %), though ηel decreased by 7.19 % due to reduced transmission. Increasing m from 2 to 6 mL/min raised ηth from 51.12 % to 62.23 % and ηel from 12.01 % to 12.06 % (topt: 10 mm), while larger Au-NP sizes (20–60 nm) reduced ηtotal by 6.5 % at 5 ppm. The merit function (MF) increased from 1.793 to 2.025 with m, but ηex decreased from 15.24 % to 13.48 %, reflecting a trade-off between energy quantity and quality. Overall, this hybrid NF offers superior spectral splitting and stability, positioning it as a promising candidate for advanced photo-harvesting.

Suggested Citation

  • Chougule, Sandesh S. & Gaikwad, Bhagyashree A. & Inbaoli, A. & Ajayan, Anand & Saha, Sandip K. & Estellé, Patrice, 2025. "Hybrid Au-ZnO/(water-ethylene glycol)-nanofluid based PV/T spectral beam splitter for efficient photo-harvesting," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:331:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225026970
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.137055
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