Comparison Between Conventional Solvothermal and Aqueous Solution-based Production of UiO-66-NH2: Life Cycle Assessment, Techno-economic Assessment, and Implications for CO2 Capture and Storage

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of materials that has shown great potential in catalysis, sensing, separations, and carbon capture and storage. Conventionally, MOFs are synthesized at lab-scale using organic solvent-based systems, leading to high environmental burdens and high operating costs, which ultimately hinders the large-scale production and application of MOFs. Aqueous synthesis of MOFs overcomes such difficulty by eliminating the organic solvent, which makes it an environmentalfriendlier and economically-favorable alternative to the current production method. However, further quantitative analysis is required to compare the environmental and economic performances of the two methods. Here, we used life cycle assessment (LCA) coupled with techno-economic analysis (TEA) to evaluate the environmental and economic performances of different UiO-66-NH2 production methods. When the solvothermal method was replaced by the aqueous solution-based method, the LCA and TEA results suggest the environmental burdens and cost of UiO-66-NH2 production were reduced by up to 91% and 84%, respectively. By using aqueous solution-based method, the cradle to gate carbon footprint and production cost of UiO-66-NH2 were estimated to be 43 kg CO2 eq/kg and $15.8/kg, respectively. We further applied our LCA results to reassess the role of UiO-66-NH2 in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and compare its environmental performance with current benchmark (amine-based solvent). Our results show that UiO-66-NH2 could potentially have better environmental performance than the amine-based solvent if the number of regeneration cycles is greater than 1513. This work is the first comprehensive LCA-TEA study that quantifies the substantial environmental and economic benefits of using the aqueous solution-based systems to produce UiO-66-NH2, and the analysis in this work is intended to be a starting point for further systematic studies on the full life-cycle impacts of MOFs.

Full-scale municipal sludge pyrolysis in China: Design fundamentals, environmental and economic assessments, and future perspectives

“…The MEB calculations described in Section 2.2 reveal the key materials and energy consumption features of the full-scale sludge pyrolysis system, and the calculation results were used to estimate the environmental impacts of the pyrolysis system via life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA is an environmental accounting tool that determines the environmental impacts of products, processes, and/or systems, from cradle to grave [23,28]. The goal of LCA in this work is to first investigate the environmental performances of the full-scale pyrolysis system under a wide range of conditions, i.e., the parameter space described in Section 2.2, and then provide insights on the system optimizations that would make pyrolysis a more sustainable and promising solution for sludge handling in the future.…”

Performance of amine‐functionalized MIL‐53 incorporated thin‐film nanocomposite Pebax membranes for CO2/CH4 mixed gas separation

“…Therefore, this MOF has a high affinity toward CO 2 compared to CH 4. 33–38 Modification using amine clusters is a method for improving nanoparticle separation and dispersion within polymer matrix architectures 39–41 . Recently, thin‐film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes containing a selective thin layer (Pebax 2,533) supported by a high permeable polymer‐based material and MOFs have been proposed as an appropriate option to reduce the challenges of filler/polymer compatibility, resulting in increased selectivity while maintaining high permeability 42–44 .…”

“…[33][34][35][36][37][38] Modification using amine clusters is a method for improving nanoparticle separation and dispersion within polymer matrix architectures. [39][40][41] Recently, thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes containing a selective thin layer (Pebax 2,533) supported by a high permeable polymer-based material and MOFs have been proposed as an appropriate option to reduce the challenges of filler/polymer compatibility, resulting in increased selectivity while maintaining high permeability. [42][43][44] Polysulfone, due to its inherent properties such as flame retardancy, electrical performance, high distortion temperature, chemical inertness, and superior thermal stability, is among the thermoplastic polymers that have gotten a lot of interest as highly permeable polymer membranes.…”