ENVIRONMENTAL, HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES AND APPROACHES FOR THE PROCESSING OF POLYMER NANOCOMPOSITES

摘要

In 2005, Environmental Defense and DuPont entered into a partnership to develop a framework that seeks to identify and address potential environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) risks of nano-scale materials. The Nano Risk Framework was published to establish a systematic and disciplined process to identify and reduce potential risks during nanomaterial development and meet continued product stewardship commitments [1]. This paper describes an approach developed for and the application of the Framework to the processing of polymer nanocom-posites at laboratory and semi-works scales. Carbon nanotubes were melt-blended into a polymer matrix with a batch mixer to improve mechanical and electrical properties. Nano-TiO_2 nanocomposites were made on laboratory and semi-works extruders. These case studies exemplify DuPont's approach to handling nanomaterials in the product research and evaluation phase of development. Utilization of the Framework enabled further refinement of internal EH&S management procedures and to identify questions to be answered for such applications before they move to commercialization.