Comparing activated carbon and graphene-based electrodes using electrosorption process to quantify environmental...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science and Engineering
• Nuclear Waste Management
• Materials Science

Background:

• Thorium extraction from radioactive waste is crucial but poses environmental and health risks.
• Previous studies on electrosorption for thorium recovery lacked a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA).
• Existing methods like solvent extraction and ion exchange have limitations regarding environmental impact.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the environmental impact and emissions lifecycle of thorium extraction using electrosorption.
• To compare the sustainability of activated carbon electrodes (ACE) and graphene-based electrodes (GBE) in thorium electrosorption.
• To evaluate thorium extraction efficiency and environmental consequences within a sustainable LCA framework.

Main Methods:

• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework was employed to evaluate environmental impacts.
• Inventory data for LCA were sourced from the Ecoinvent database 3.
• Comparative analysis of midpoint and endpoint indicators for ACE and GBE systems during thorium extraction.

Main Results:

• The ACE system exhibited substantially higher environmental impacts than GBE per 1 kg of thorium extracted.
• ACE showed increased human toxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and marine ecotoxicity compared to GBE.
• GBE demonstrated superior performance in thorium removal with lower impacts on human health, ecosystems, and resources.

Conclusions:

• Graphene-based electrodes (GBE) are more effective and environmentally benign for thorium extraction than activated carbon electrodes (ACE).
• The GBE technique offers a sustainable solution for managing radioactive waste containing thorium.
• This study highlights the importance of LCA in assessing the environmental viability of different electrode materials for nuclear waste processing.