Advancing Sustainable Manufacturing of Carbon Nanomaterials and Devices through Life Cycle Assessment

摘要

Nanotechnology-related environmental, health, and safety (NanoEHS) decision-making tools, such as Nano NAV-PAL and NanoGRID, and the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology have been successfully deployed to guide the research, development, engineering, and manufacturing of carbon nanomaterials (in this work, carbon nanotubes) and printed thermistors and moisture sensors to reduce the EHS impact and risk through improved manufacturing efficencies and material and device performance. Through the iterative LCA process and multiple cycles of improvements in R&D, engineering, and manufacturing processes, the projected EHS impact was significantly reduced by as much as 95% in certain categories. In addition, manufacturing productivity and performance were greatly improved by as much as one order of magnitude. This project was accomplished using NanoEHS decision-making tools and LCA to guide the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of nanomaterials, nanotechnology, and nanotechnology-enabled products in a rapid and socially responsible manner.