NER: Carbon Nanotube Synthesis: Assessing Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs in Process Design

NER：碳纳米管合成：评估工艺设计中的经济和环境权衡

• 批准号: 0404114
• 负责人: Jacqueline Isaacs
• 金额: $ 13万
• 依托单位: Northeastern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-07-15 至 2006-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0404114&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NER; Carbon; Nanotube; Synthesis; Assessing

This proposal was received in response to Nanoscale Science and Engineering initiative, NSF 03-043, category NER. The extraordinary properties of carbon nanotubes (e.g., electrical, mechanical and chemical) have led to research in drug delivery and medical diagnostic applications, and offer great promise for delivering new and improved environmental technologies. However, it appears that few researchers are including green engineering principles in the development of these processes, and with the general concern over nanotech development, it would be prudent to assess the tradeoffs in process alternatives while the processes are in their developmental phases, to allow creation of more sustainable processes. This project therefore addresses societal implications of nanotechnology. The potential for harmful societal implications of nanotechnology has generated policy analyses and legislative congressional hearings. Many organizations have been responsive to the need to address potential consequences, including the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), by holding workshops, and colloquia to address issues that cross disciplinary boundaries. A draft document on guidelines for responsible nanotechnology development practices is available on the Foresight Institute's website, but most scientists and engineers are not aware of its existence. Although the document includes some specific recommendations intended to provide a basis for responsible development of molecular nanotechnology, it does not address methods for researchers to assess responsible process design. The proposed research addresses this need. Given the potential benefits and concerns over the use of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), this proposal focuses on assessment of the tradeoffs among the technological, environmental and economic characteristics of SWNT synthesis. In a collaborative one-year Nano Exploratory Research (NER) plan, the principal investigators at Northeastern University (NU) and Wake Forest University (WFU) will gather pertinent information on single wall nanotube (SWNT) processes: products created, materials used, effluents generated to the environment, and energy used. WFU will provide this information to develop inventories for their SWNT processes. NU will develop life cycle analysis (LCA) approaches to track materials. NU will gather technical process information from WFU to develop technical cost models (TCMs) to assess the process economics for scaled-up operations, including environmental costs for effluent disposal and worker safety. The cost models will include tangible environmental process costs. WFU will track environmental aspects of lab-scale SWNT arc, CVD, and laser-assisted CVD processes with regard to energy utilized, waste gas emissions, solid waste production and possible airborne hazards for production of SWNTs. Based on NU's modeling results for process improvement, WFU will run trial experiments and characterize the resulting products. NU and WFU will collaboratively assess inputs and determine preliminary results for the most environmentally benign approaches to SWNT synthesis. The expertise of the PIs is complementary. NU has a track record of successful development and utilization of LCA and TCM models, while WFU is a leader in the development of process alternatives for the synthesis of various types of single-walled nanotubes. Given the potential benefits and concerns over the use of SWNTs, and the fact that many new (and existing) businesses are currently working to commercialize the process, assessment of the tradeoffs among the technological, environmental and economic characteristics is critical. The intellectual merit in this work resides in the application of green engineering principles to developmental nanotechnologies. There is significant broader impact associated with the development of environmentally benign nanotech process design. Results from this one-year project are expected to provide information on alternative process choices that will allow researchers and process developers to make informed decisions for appropriate use and scale-up of the technology. Through this project, laboratory researchers, graduate students and undergraduates (through a course module) will become aware of the associated societal and ethical issues, and can work to incorporate appropriate tradeoffs during process development. Dissemination of this work through the existing NSEC and MRSEC Centers will allow other researchers to become familiar with environmentally benign process design practices.

该提案是对NSF 03-043类纳米科学与工程倡议的响应。碳纳米管的非凡性能(如电学、机械和化学)导致了药物输送和医疗诊断应用的研究，并为提供新的和改进的环境技术提供了巨大的希望。然而，似乎很少有研究人员将绿色工程原则纳入这些工艺的开发中，鉴于对纳米技术开发的普遍关注，在工艺处于开发阶段时评估工艺替代方案的权衡是谨慎的，以便能够创建更可持续的工艺。因此，该项目涉及纳米技术的社会影响。纳米技术可能产生有害的社会影响，这引发了政策分析和立法国会听证会。许多组织响应了解决潜在后果的需要，包括国家纳米技术倡议、环境保护局(EPA)和国家工程院(NAE)，举办了讲习班和座谈会，以解决跨学科界限的问题。一份关于负责任的纳米技术开发实践指南的文件草案可以在Foresight Institute的网站上找到，但大多数科学家和工程师并不知道它的存在。尽管该文件包括一些旨在为负责任的分子纳米技术发展提供基础的具体建议，但它没有涉及研究人员评估负责任的工艺设计的方法。拟议的研究满足了这一需求。考虑到使用单壁碳纳米管(SWNT)的潜在好处和担忧，本提案重点评估了单壁碳纳米管合成的技术、环境和经济特征之间的权衡。在一项为期一年的纳米探索研究(NER)合作计划中，东北大学(NU)和维克森林大学(WFU)的主要研究人员将收集有关单壁纳米管(SWNT)工艺的相关信息：创建的产品、使用的材料、产生的环境污水和使用的能源。WFU将提供这些信息，以便为他们的SWNT流程制定清单。NU将开发生命周期分析(LCA)方法来跟踪材料。国家臭氧机构将从WFU收集技术流程信息，以开发技术成本模型(TCM)，以评估扩大运营的流程经济性，包括污水处理和工人安全的环境成本。成本模型将包括有形的环境过程成本。WFU将跟踪实验室规模的单壁碳纳米管弧光、化学气相沉积和激光辅助化学气相沉积工艺的环境问题，包括所使用的能源、废气排放、固体废物产生以及生产单壁碳纳米管可能存在的空气危害。基于NU的工艺改进建模结果，WFU将进行试验性实验并对结果产品进行表征。NU和WFU将合作评估投入，并确定最环保的合成SWNT方法的初步结果。私人投资总监的专业知识是相辅相成的。纽大在成功开发和利用生命周期评价模型和中药模型方面有着良好的记录，而WFU在开发用于合成各种类型的单壁纳米管的工艺替代方案方面处于领先地位。鉴于使用单壁碳纳米管的潜在好处和担忧，以及许多新的(和现有的)企业目前正在努力将这一过程商业化，对技术、环境和经济特征之间的权衡进行评估至关重要。这项工作的智力价值在于将绿色工程原则应用于发展中的纳米技术。对环境无害的纳米技术工艺设计的发展产生了重大而广泛的影响。这个为期一年的项目的结果预计将提供有关替代工艺选择的信息，使研究人员和工艺开发人员能够做出明智的决定，以便适当使用和扩大该技术。通过这个项目，实验室研究人员、研究生和本科生(通过课程模块)将认识到相关的社会和伦理问题，并能够努力在过程开发过程中纳入适当的权衡。通过现有的NSEC和MRSEC中心传播这项工作，将使其他研究人员熟悉环境无害的工艺设计实践。