Towards a holistic environmental impact assessment of carbon nanotube growth through chemical vapour deposition

Abstract

Despite the large production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which has been widely applied in the industrial sector and reached hundreds of tonnes, an integrated study that focuses not only on CNT synthesis and characterisation but also on the environmental footprint of the process life cycle is hitherto scarce. This work goes beyond state-of-the-art, combining and comparing two different CNT synthesis routes by taking into account all the appropriate data to fully evaluate them not only in terms of material characteristics and process productivity but also incorporating a comprehensive life cycle overview indicating the areas of concern that should be thoroughly considered and appreciated prior to their industrial scale production. The resulting environmental impacts and uncertainty analysis offer insights into areas where significant environmental gains could be achieved, thus providing a stepping stone towards “greener” CNT-based nanoproducts and paving the way for their sustainable industrialisation.