Analyzing Environmental Impacts of Hypercrosslinked Polymers Produced from Continuous Flow Synthesis for Water Treatment

Abstract

Polymer production in the 21stcentury will require alternative approaches that do not impact the environment negatively. We recently reported that the synthesis of hypercrosslinked polymers (HCPs) via continuous flow synthesis required less than 99% of the time required in conventional batch reactions. However, the impact of deploying flow synthesis of HCPs and their application on the environment remain unknown. Here, we assessed the environmental impacts of HCP synthesis via batch and flow reactions and their application in water treatment through life-cycle assessment (LCA). These impacts were represented as normalized scores in four end point impact categories: Human health, Ecosystem quality, Climate change, and Resources. Yielding the same amount of HCPs, flow synthesis demonstrated lower end point impacts in all categories. This was due to consuming only 5% of the electricity required for batch reactions. As the specific surface areas of flow-produced HCPs were lower than those of batch-produced HCPs, 36% more flow-produced HCPs were required to remove Rhodamine B (RB) and Uniblue A (UA) dyes from water. Despite this limitation, using flow-produced HCPs for water treatment still scored lower overall negative environmental impacts when compared to batch-produced HCPs. Outcomes from this work showed that flow synthesis could enhance the sustainability of scale-up HCP production.