Open AccessAn Examination of Existing Data for the Industrial Manufacture and Use of Nanocomponents and Their Role in the Life Cycle Impact of Nanoproducts
Author(s) -
David E. Meyer,
Mary Ann Curran,
Michael A. Gonzalez
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
environmental science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.851
H-Index - 397
eISSN - 1520-5851
pISSN - 0013-936X
DOI - 10.1021/es8023258
Subject(s) - nanomanufacturing , life cycle assessment , greenhouse gas , resource consumption , carbon footprint , resource (disambiguation) , environmental economics , business , operations management , manufacturing engineering , computer science , production (economics) , engineering , nanotechnology , materials science , ecology , computer network , biology , economics , macroeconomics
This work examines the manufacture and use of nanocomponents and how they can affect the life cycle impact of resulting nanoproducts. Available data on the production of nanoproducts and nanocomponents are used to identify the major groups of nanocomponents studied in this paper: inorganic nanoparticles, carbon-based nanomaterials, and specialty/composite materials. A comparison of existing results for life cycle assessments of nanocomponents and nanoproducts is used to possibly identifytrends in nanomanufacturing based on material grouping with regard to nonrenewable energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Continuing work is needed in this area to incorporate other factors such as toxicity and resource consumption in addition to energy use and global warming potential to fully understand the role of nanomanufacturing in the life cycle of nanoproducts.