Environmental assessment of large scale production of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles via coprecipitation

Nanoparticles are materials with special properties that can be applied in different fields, such as medicine, engineering, food industry and cosmetics. The contributions regarding the synthesis of different types of nanoparticles have allowed researchers to determine a special group of nanoparticles with key characteristics for several applications. Magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4) have attracted a significant amount of attention due to their ability to improve the properties of polymeric materials. For this reason, the development of novel/emerging large scale processes for the synthesis of nanomaterials is a great and important challenge. In this work, an environmental assessment of the large scale production of magnetite via coprecipitation was carried out with the aim to evaluate its potential impact on the environment at a processing capacity of 806.87 t/year of magnetite nanoparticles. The assessment was performed using a computer-aided tool based on the Waste Reduction Algorithm (WAR). This method allows us to quantify the impacts generated and classify them into eight different categories. The process does not generate any negative impacts that could harm the environment. This assessment allowed us to identify the applicability of the large scale production of magnetite nanoparticles from an environmental viewpoint.