Nanomaterials are expected to play an important role in the development of sustainable products. The use of nanomaterials in solar cells has the potential to increase their conversion efficiency. In this study, we performed a life cycle assessment (LCA) for an emerging nanowire‐based solar technology. Two lab‐scale manufacturing routes for the production of nanowire‐based solar cells have been compared—the direct growth of GaInP nanowires on silicon substrate and the growth of InP nanowires on native substrate, peel off, and transfer to silicon substrate. The analysis revealed critical raw materials and processes of the current lab‐scale manufacturing routes such as the use of trifluoromethane (CHF₃), gold, and an InP wafer and a stamp, which are used and discarded. The environmental performance of the two production routes under different scenarios has been assessed. The scenarios include the use of an alternative process to reduce the gold requirements—electroplating instead of metallization, recovery of gold, and reuse of the InP wafer and the stamp. A number of suggestions, based on the LCA results—including minimization of the use of gold and further exploration for upscaling of the electroplating process, the increase in the lifetimes of the wafer and the stamp, and the use of fluorine‐free etching materials—have been communicated to the researchers in order to improve the environmental performance of the technology. Finally, the usefulness and limitations of lab‐scale LCA as a tool to guide the sustainable development of emerging technologies are discussed.

中文翻译：

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实验室规模的新兴技术的生命周期评估：基于纳米线的太阳能电池

纳米材料有望在可持续产品的开发中发挥重要作用。在太阳能电池中使用纳米材料具有提高其转换效率的潜力。在这项研究中，我们对新兴的基于纳米线的太阳能技术进行了生命周期评估（LCA）。比较了两种用于生产基于纳米线的太阳能电池的实验室规模的制造途径-GaInP纳米线在硅衬底上的直接生长和InP纳米线在自然衬底上的生长，剥离并转移到硅衬底上。分析揭示了当前实验室规模生产路线的关键原材料和工艺，例如三氟甲烷（CHF ₃），金以及使用和丢弃的InP晶片和邮票。评估了两种生产路线在不同情况下的环境绩效。这些方案包括使用替代工艺降低金的需求-电镀而不是金属化，金的回收以及InP晶片和印模的重复使用。根据LCA结果，提出了许多建议-包括尽量减少金的使用和进一步探索以扩大电镀工艺的规模，延长晶片和压模的寿命以及使用无氟蚀刻材料-已与研究人员进行了交流，以改善该技术的环保性能。最后，