Nanomanufacturing: LCA Challenges for Deposition Processes and Coated

Products

Presentation by

Delcie R DurhamMechanical Engineering

Nanotechnology and Life Cycle Assessment Workshop, Chicago November 2009USF

Research advances at macro scale during same time period

Are these ready for advancing to the nanoscale?

Personal path: Coming full circle after 20 years

Paul Sheng won NAMRI best paper award for environmental impact of drymachining – raised questions

Submicron phenomena for mfg, nanotools available

Why little activity on environment in manufacturing?EBDM study, broad

collaborations, LCA, Product life cycle mgmt.

Societal issuesrecognized andintegrated throughsustainability

Back to nanostructuresand phenomena for processes and productnow with LCA

Life cycle analysis as a decision-making tool in product realization?

• How can LCA be incorporated into the design process early enough to affect critical decisions on selecting material, manufacturing process when design criteria are focused on performance and manufacturing criteria are focused on producibility and productivity?

• Can we create a dynamic LCA that integrates with other design / analysis tools rather than a static “snapshot” tool?

Where are the current roadblocks for a “non NP” example

Consider thin film deposition that relies on creating and maintaining a nanostructure in order to achieve phenomenologically enhanced properties

Properties of interested include: mechanical resistance to wear, corrosion resistance, thermal / electrical conductivity

Thin film coatings – challenges of producing nanostructured thin films (3 Ps)

The primary focus has been on selecting a process and optimizing it for producibility – getting the desired material properties.

Then issues of repeatability, improving the yield, scaling up for productivity, provide the next challenges

Finally, profitability – where can costs be reduced might lead to consideration of the environmental costs through waste reduction.

Thin film processing as part of LCA

Deposition process is usually not stand-alone but requires interrelated surface prep, cleaning, etc.

Optimization of process depends upon material, crystallographic orientation, etc. that is desired for the product.

Difficult to standardize an LCA given these many variations – example microwave power enhancements, substrate temperatures, target preparation,

Overview: The Flow of Materials

ResourceExtraction

MaterialsProcessing

ProductManufacture

ProductUse

Collection &Processing

WasteDisposal

Recycle Re-useRe-manufacture

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from Derry Allen, US EPA, presentation June 30, 2003 at the International Society for Industrial Ecology

From LMAS, UC Berkeley

Introduction of Total Product Lifecycle Management

TPLM considers all flows into and out of the product life cycle, and can include consideration of multiple life cycles when component reuse and remanufacture occur.

Focusing on nanomanufacturing

SurfacePrep

DepositionCleaning,

conditionin

Functionality driven:

Choices: heat treatment, chemical etch, mechanical peening

Separate LCA from deposition

Processes:

Choices: PVD, CVD, IonBeam, Molecular Beam, Evaporation, with modifications

Equipmentcleaning

Application driven:

Choices: Chem Mech Polish Stress Relieving Cleaning Prep for addn’l layers

separate LCA from deposition process.

Target Mfg

Variations in energy, materials and catalysts, based on realizing desired structure, not on minimizing energy, evaluatingdifferent catalystsfor environmentalimpact.

Product use causesvery small wear landcompared to whole tool insert, remanfg can require addn’l prepprocesses.

Some tools have8 – 16 different sub-micron layers deposited on the surface.

Other additional LCA challenges

Wear of product inuse? There has beenlittle to no investigationregarding wear particlegeneration for machining.

Machining (USE) caninclude cutting fluids or be done dry – wheredo particles end up, howcan they be collected?

Some tools have8 – 16 different sub-micron layers deposited on the surface - EOL?

Nano + LCA: issues

ACCEPTANCE:

Must address triple bottom line for mfg.

Must be transparent to product designer.

Must accommodate “local” optimization.

RESEARCH• Interdisciplinary research to include societal and economic impacts • Modules of LCA for design (beyond EcoInvent)• Integrate optimization methods, risk and uncertainty