The life cycle assessment of the carbon nanotube output from packaging wastes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has a significant role in a wide range of industrial applications and products owing to their invaluable mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is the commonest synthesis method of CNTs production. In this study, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to determine the environmental performance of multi-walled carbon nanotubes synthesized by CVD method, and monetization studies were conducted for economic evaluation. The system boundaries, covering raw material supply and production process, are formed as "cradle-to-gate". The functional unit was defined as 0.553 g CNT in an experimental set synthesized in a laboratory scale CVD reactor. Inventory data has been collected through onsite measurements, materials usage and Ecoinvent software database. The LCA calculations were carried out using licensed SimaPro 8.5.0.0 software. The environmental impact assessment was carried out using CML-IA method for the selected impact categories (abiotic depletion, global warming, toxicity, photochemical oxidation, ozon layer depletion, acidification and eutrophication). According to the results of LCA and monetization, the most effective activity was the energy consumed.