Environmental assessment of manufacturing with carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) demonstrate great promise in a variety of applications such as structural polymers, super capacitors, batteries, sensors, and shielding. This is due to their unique electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties. Despite the desirable qualities commercially and in industry, little information exists on the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) effects of CNTs. Given the EHS uncertainty, it is prudent to assess the environmental attributes for nanomanufacturing products and processes while they are still in the developmental phase. Using life cycle assessment (LCA) techniques, this paper investigates the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing two different applications currently under development at the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing (CHN) at Northeastern University: a CNT switch and a CNT-polymer mesh.