Life cycle assessment of nanocellulose-reinforced advanced fibre composites
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Published version
Author(s)
Hervy, M
Evangelisti, S
Lettieri, P
Lee, K
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The research and development of nanocellulose-reinforced polymer composites have dramatically increased in the recent years due to the possibility of exploiting the high tensile stiffness and strength of nanocellulose. In the work, the environmental impacts of bacterial cellulose (BC)- and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC)-reinforced epoxy composites were evaluated using life cycle assessment (LCA). Neat polylactide (PLA) and 30% randomly oriented glass fibre-reinforced polypropylene (GF/PP) composites were used as benchmark materials for comparison. Our cradle-to-gate LCA showed that BC- and NFC-reinforced epoxy composites have higher global warming potential (GWP) and abiotic depletion potential of fossil fuels (ADf) compared to neat PLA and GF/PP even though the specific tensile moduli of the nanocellulose-reinforced epoxy composites were higher than neat PLA and GF/PP. However, when the use phase and the end-of-life of nanocellulose-reinforced epoxy composites were considered, the “green credentials” of nanocellulose-reinforced epoxy composites were comparable to that of neat PLA and GF/PP composites. Our life cycle scenario analysis showed that the cradle-to-grave GWP and ADf of BC- and NFC-reinforced epoxy composites could be lower than neat PLA when the composites contains more than 60 vol.-% nanocellulose. Our LCA model suggests that nanocellulose-reinforced epoxy composites with high nanocellulose loading is desired to produce materials with “greener credentials” than the best performing commercially available bio-derived polymer.
Date Issued
2015-10-30
Date Acceptance
2015-08-30
Citation
Composites Science and Technology, 2015, 118 (1), pp.154-162
ISSN
0266-3538
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
154
End Page
162
Journal / Book Title
Composites Science and Technology
Volume
118
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Sponsor
EPSRC
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Identifier
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0266353815300725
Grant Number
EP/M012247/1
EP/M012247/1
Subjects
Nanocellulose
A. Nanocomposites
A. Polymer-matric composites (PMCs)
B. Mechanical properties
C. Modelling
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2015-09-03