The Cu nanofluid in ethylene glycol was prepared by electrical explosion of wire, a novel one-step method. The X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope were used to study the properties of Cu nanoparticles. The results showed that the nanoparticles were consisted of pure face-centered cubic structure and near spherical shape with average grain size of 65 nm. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) confirmed Cu nanoparticles with a single absorbance peak of Cu surface plasmon resonance band at 600 nm. The nanofluid was found to be stable due to high positive zeta potential value, +51 mV. The backscattering level of nanofluid in static stationary was decreased about 2% for 5 days. The thermal conductivity measurement showed that Cu-ethylene glycol nanofluid with low concentration of nanoparticles had higher thermal conductivity than based fluid. The enhancement of thermal conductivity of nanofluid at a volume fraction of 0.1% was approximately 5.2%.