A TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT OF CARBON NANOPARTICLES: PRODUCTION ENERGY REQUIREMENTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR USE A M.Sc. Thesis for Industrial Ecology

Many applications for carbon nanotechnology have been realized or proposed. This paper puts forward a framework for understanding and quantifying the relationships between the physical nature of carbon nanomaterials, their production and potential role in society. Beginning from the process energies required for the production of all involved materials and feedstocks, primary energy requirements for fullerene and nanotube synthesis are calculated from literature data and presented for a number of important production processes from fluidised bed CVD and carbon monoxide disproportionation to electric arc synthesis. Critical issues in energy and scaling production are identified and potentials for improvement in industrial scale processes are discussed. Possible interactions with related industrial systems are examined with view towards the possibilities of integrating synthesis to reduce the impacts of bulk carbon nanoparticle manufacture. These insights are used to amend the energy flows already calculated and present another set of energy requirements representing mass production efforts with feasible synergies. Carbon nanoparticles are found to be highly energy intensiv