The ability of conventional fluids to conduct heat is significantly inferior to solids. The motivation to increase fluid thermal characteristics is not a novel idea. Initial experiments involved adding solid particles with more desirable properties to the base fluid under the hypothesis that the overall mixtures thermal behaviour would be more favourable. The recent advances in materials technology has made it possible by producing nanofluids. These are produced by suspending metallic or nonmetallic nanometer-sized solid particles in base fluids. These suspended nano-particles can change the transport and thermal properties of the base fluid. This review summarises recent developments in research on the stability, enhancement of thermal conductivities, viscosity and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids. Applications of nanofluids are vast, ranging from transportation to energy production, electronics and, in the field of biotechnology.
