In spite of the many potential benefits and applications of nanoparticles, concerns have been raised regarding their production, use, and ultimate fate due to poor process yields and uncertain health and environmental impacts. Production of commercial nanoparticles is growing as they find increasing use in industrial and consumer products. Nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) have shown promise as a single element braze material, but the energy and material efficiencies of NiNP production remain uncertain. In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) is employed to compare three different NiNP synthesis methods in terms of environmental impact. The study reveals challenges in using LCA to assess nanomanufacturing processes. Sensitivity analysis is performed across several process parameters to demonstrate an approach for addressing data uncertainties. The relative performance of the NiNP synthesis processes are discussed, and potential environmental implications for other NiNP synthesis processes are introduced. Policy change may be necessary to provide adequate transparency in assessing nanotechnologies for engineering applications.
The Lunar Module Simulators (LMS) in Houston and at Cape Kennedy are highly complex devices used for flight crew training and systems engineering evaluations to support the Apollo missions. Each of the two simulators consists of a three-machine digital computer complex, associated digital conversion electronics, a crew station that is an accurate replica of the Lunar Module cockpit, an infinity-optics visual display system, and an instructor-operator control con sole.
Electronics manufacturing technology has been advancing at an increasing rate for the past few decades and has forced related industries to do the same. One related industry involves the packaging technology used to enclose chips for power electronics. As demands of electronics manufacturers continue to increase in terms of cost, performance, and environmental impacts, so do demands on the packaging technologies involved. A variety of packaging materials have been used and proposed. The performance of each material varies in terms of ease of manufacturing, as well as its heat transfer properties. This study addresses performance, cost, and environmental impact measures to assist in selecting the most appropriate electronics packaging material. A performance study identified epoxy, aluminum nitride (AlN), and silicon carbide (SiC) to be the most viable options. Further analysis then found that epoxy outperforms the other options in terms of cost and environmental impact on a per-part basis, with AlN shown to be slightly better than SiC according to both metrics. Since it is known that AlN and SiC have superior material performance to epoxy packaging, further investigation is warranted to elucidate these relative differences, which will result in a more representative functional unit for comparative analysis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.