Brambila, C., Boyd, P., Keegan, A. et al. (4 more authors) (2022) A comparison of environmental impact of various silicas using a green chemistry evaluator. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 10 (16). pp. 5288-5298.
Abstract
To answer questions surrounding the sustainability of silica production, MilliporeSigma’s DOZNTM 2.0 Green Chemistry Evaluator was employed as it provides quantitative values based on the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. As a first study using DOZNTM 2.0 to evaluate the greenness of nanomaterials, a range of silica types were considered and their greenness scores compared. These included low- and high-value silicas, both commercial and emerging such as precipitated, gel, fumed, colloidal, mesoporous and bioinspired silicas. When surveying these different types of silicas, it became clear that while low value silicas have excellent greenness scores, high-value silicas perform poorly on this scale. This highlighted the tension between high-value silicas that are desired for emerging markets and the sustainability of their synthesis. The calculations were able to quantify the issues pertaining to the energy-intensive reactions and subsequent removal of soft templates for the sol-gel processes. The importance of avoiding problematic solvents during processes and particularly as waste were identified. The calculations were also able to compare the amount of waste generated as well as their hazardous nature. The effects of synthesis conditions on greenness scores were also investigated in order to better understand the relationship between the production process and their sustainability.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 American Chemical Society. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | DOZN; sustainability; bioinspired silica; green nanomaterials; energy; solvents |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/R025983/1; EP/P006892/1; EP/V051458/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 01 Apr 2022 13:19 |
Last Modified: | 12 Apr 2023 00:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c00519 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:185098 |