Science of the Total Environment 763 (2021) 144202

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Science of the Total Environment

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv

Review

Environmental impacts of nanofluids: A review

Khaled Elsaid a,⁎, A.G. Olabi b,c,⁎⁎, Tabbi Wilberforce d, Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem b,c,e,
Enas Taha Sayed b,e
a
Chemical Engineering Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3122, USA
b
Center for Advanced Materials Research, University of Sharjah, 27272 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
c
Department of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Sharjah, 27272 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
d
Mechanical Engineering and Design, Aston University, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
e
Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Minia University, Egypt

H I G H L I G H T S G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T

• Nanofluids have been expanding appli-

cations as an efficient heat transfer fluid.
• The environmental impacts for
nanofluids are mainly due to the added
nanoparticles.
• The type and production of nanoparti-
cles, and nanofluid production are the
main causes of impacts.
• The employing of green synthesis
methods has a significant role in reduc-
tion of environmental impacts.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Nanofluids (NFs) have been expanding their applications in many areas as high-performance heat transfer fluid
Received 1 July 2020 (HTF) for heating and cooling purposes. This is mainly due to the improved thermophysical properties relative to
Received in revised form 22 November 2020 the base fluid (BF). The addition of nanoparticles (NPs) to BF, to obtain NFs, increases the thermal conductivity,
Accepted 25 November 2020
hence better heat transfer properties and thermal performance. The properties of NFs can be considered somehow
Available online 25 December 2020
intermediate between those of the BF and the added solid NPs. The improved heat transfer using NFs results in in-
Editor: Mohamad Ramadan creased energy conversion efficiency, which results in reduced energy consumption for heating or cooling applica-
tions. BF and their environmental impacts (EIs) have been widely discussed within the scope of their applications as
Keywords: a HTF, with most of the attention given to the improved energy efficiency. The IEs of NPs and their toxicity and other
Nanofluids characteristics have been extensively studied due to the widespread applications on newly engineered NPs.
Environmental impacts However, with the evolution of expanding the applications of NFs, the different EIs were not well addressed. The
Nanoparticles discussion should consider both the base fluid and NPs added in combination as the NF constitutes. The current
Toxicity work presents a brief discussion on the EIs of NFs. The discussion presented in this work considers the NPs as the
primary contributor to the EIs of different NFs. It was found that the EIs of NFs depend significantly on the type of
NP used, followed by the BF, and finally, the loading of NPs in BF. The use of non-toxic and naturally occurring NPs
at lower NPs loading in water as NF promises a much lower EIs in terms of toxicity energy requirements for pro-
duction, and other EIs, while still maintaining high thermal performance. The production methods of both NPs,
i.e., synthesis route, and NF, i.e., one-step or two-step, were found to have a significant effect on the associated
EIs of the produced NF. The simpler NP synthesis route and NF production will result in much lower chemicals
and energy requirements, which in turn reduce the EIs.
© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

⁎ Corresponding author.
⁎⁎ Correspondence to: A. Olabi, Center for Advanced Materials Research, University of Sharjah, 27272 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
E-mail addresses: khaled.elsaid@tamu.edu (K. Elsaid), aolabi@sharjah.ac.ae (A.G. Olabi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144202
0048-9697/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
K. Elsaid, A.G. Olabi, T. Wilberforce et al. Science of the Total Environment 763 (2021) 144202

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Nanofluids: preparation, properties, and applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.1. Preparation of nanofluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2. Types of nanofluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3. Properties of nanofluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.4. Applications of nanofluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.5. Future directions for nanofluids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Environmental impacts of nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1. Toxicity impacts of parent material of nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2. Environmental impacts of nanomaterial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.3. Toxicity impacts of nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. Environmental impacts of nanofluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
CRediT authorship contribution statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Declaration of competing interest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1. Introduction
Heat transfer operations are one of the main processes for energy ex-
traction and conversion (Egilegor et al., 2020; Jouhara et al., 2018). Heat
exchange between different process streams, and more importantly, be-
tween process stream and heat transfer fluid (HTF) is essential in all
process industries (Jouhara and Olabi, 2018; Malinauskaite et al.,
2019). Common HTFs are water/steam as the most used HTF for cooling
and heating purposes, oils for heating purposes, ethylene glycol, and its
mixtures with water for cooling purposes (Agathokleous et al., 2019;
Yang et al., 2020). However, these fluids have some limitations with re-
spect to their application, thermophysical properties, and limitation
with respect to working temperature range, thermal conductivities,
and heat capacities (Jouhara et al., 2017; Krishna et al., 2020).
Nanotechnology and the evolutionary use of nanoparticles (NPs) in
a wide range of applications using the nanoscale newly developed
material have been the main research direction in recent years, with
the main focus on expanding in water and energy applications (Olabi
et al., 2020a, 2020b; Sayed et al., 2020). Nanofluids (NFs) are a new
class of HTF that is made by adding nanoparticles (NPs) of size
<100 nm of different solid materials to a conventional HTF, i.e., base
fluid (BF), to improve its thermophysical properties (Fan and Wang,
2011; Ganvir et al., 2017; Saidur et al., 2011; Sezer et al., 2019). The
properties of NFs are usually called effective properties, i.e., effective
thermal conductivity, effective viscosity, effective density to distinguish
it from those of BF (Ali et al., 2018). The heat transfer efficiency of NFs
mainly depends on 1) properties of NPs, 2) properties of BF, 3)
interaction between NPs and BF, and 4) the NPs aggregation
(Cardellini et al., 2016). Subramanian et al. devoted an earlier effort to
compile the different engineering applications of NFs categorized as
per application fields to thermal, solar, and oil and gas (Subramanian
et al., 2019). NFs have outperformed conventional HTF in many applica-
tions such as heat exchangers (Brough et al., 2020; Guichet et al., 2020;
Hajatzadeh Pordanjani et al., 2019), automotive (Abbas et al., 2020;
Xian et al., 2019), solar energy systems (Hemmat Esfe et al., 2020;
Shah and Ali, 2019), and desalination (Abdelkareem et al., 2018; Iqbal
et al., 2021).
The application of NFs has been viewed generally from the point of
process improvement and enhanced heat transfer efficiency. Although
carrying an environmental impact assessment is essential to almost all
industrial applications and activities, to assess their environmentally-
friendly level (Abdelkareem et al., 2020; Elsaid et al., 2020a, 2020b;
Rabaia et al., 2020). However, little attention has been given to the
different environmental impacts (EIs) of NF with respect to their
application. The increased heat transfer efficiency and improved
thermophysical properties have been viewed as environmental benefits
due to improved energy efficiency; hence less energy is consumed for a
particular duty (Elsaid et al., 2020c; Olabi et al., 2020a, 2020b; Salari
et al., 2020). Hence the different EIs of fossil fuel consumption or in-
creased efficiency of renewable energy harvesting have been the main
discussion subject (Joseph et al., 2020; Mahmoud et al., 2020a; Yang
et al., 2020). This has been the primary discussion topic as it serves to
achieve better process sustainability due to the lower energy demand,
primarily from fossil fuels, or increasing harvesting efficiency of renew-
able energies for sustainable development (Huang and Marefati, 2020;
Mahmoud et al., 2020b; Sundar et al., 2020). Environmental and eco-
nomic impacts of using NFs are sometimes expressed as carbon cost,
which is simply the cost saved due to the mitigation of greenhouse
gases emissions due to the use of NFs (Huang and Marefati, 2020;
Sharafeldin et al., 2019; Sundar et al., 2020).
To the best of our knowledge, there was no previous comprehensive
work to discuss the EIs of the applications of NFs. Yang et al. have re-
cently discussed the environmental effects of hybrid-NFs; however,
the discussion was very brief and within general review on hybrid-
NFs, mainly discussing nanoparticles' effect on human health (Yang
et al., 2020). The current work is an effort to meet the stressed need
to discuss the different EIs of NFs. The work considers both pillars of
NFs, i.e., NP and BF, and their combination. The discussion starts with
a comprehensive overview of NPs, and hence the formed NFs. To
simplify the discussion, the BF has been assumed to have much lower
EIs, as the most studied NFs have been formed with water as the
BF. Water is the most common HTF and has no toxicity or hazards
associated with it, hence making any characteristics such as toxicity or
hazards posed by NF due to the added NPs solely. This approach is
simple; however, a further detailed discussion should be addressing
the contribution of the BF as well. The discussion considers the life
cycle assessment, environmental, and toxicity characteristics of the
most common NPs, hence the formulated NFs. The work finally
discusses some recommendations on mitigation and control strategies
to minimize the EIs of NFs and conclusions on the responsible application
of NFs.
2. Nanofluids: preparation, properties, and applications
2.1. Preparation of nanofluids
Nanofluids (NFs) are prepared from the simple mixing and suspen-
sion of NPs in a base fluid (BF), hence enhancing its thermophysical
properties. The preparation can be either in a one-step or two-steps
method (Liang and Mudawar, 2019). In the one-step method, the NPs
are directly formed in the BF employing physical vapor deposition
(PVD), laser ablation, or submerged arc techniques. In the two-step

2
K. Elsaid, A.G. Olabi, T. Wilberforce et al.
method, the NPs are prepared separately by hydrothermal synthesis or
sol-gel techniques and then mixed with the BF using ultrasonic agita-
tion, pH adjustment, and magnetic stirring, followed by stabilization
to form stable NF (Yang et al., 2020). In a one-step method, the NPs
are readily formed and dispersed in the liquid phase, i.e., BF, hence
solid handling processes such as drying, storage, dispersion, transporta-
tion, and stabilization are avoided (Jama et al., 2016). However, the
main disadvantages are the left unreacted material due to incomplete
reaction, and only low-vapor pressure fluids can be utilized. The two-
step method is widely used and most economical for the preparation
of NFs; this is mainly as nanopowder synthesis methods, i.e., NPs, have
already been scaled up, with a wide range of industrial-scale methods
for different nanostructures (Yu and Xie, 2012). However, the main dis-
advantage of the two-step method is the need for mixture stabilization
to keep the NPs from aggregating.
2.2. Types of nanofluids
NFs can be mainly classified according to the type of NPs and BF
used. According to NPs, NFs can be mainly classified as metallic or
non-metallic NFs (Ali et al., 2018; Saidur et al., 2011; Yang et al.,
2020). The dispersion of metallic NPs forms the metallic-based NFs ei-
ther as metals or metal oxides such as Cu, CuO, Al, Zn, ZnO, and many
others (Kumar and Sonawane, 2016; Monroe et al., 2019; Nageswara
Rao and Ravi Sankar, 2019; Nakhchi and Esfahani, 2020; Wong and
Kurma, 2008). On the other hand, the non-metallic-based NF are formed
by the dispersion of non-metallic NPs such as SiO2 and carbon-based
nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanofibers, graphene, graphene oxide, and
many others (Aravind and Ramaprabhu, 2013; Borode et al., 2019;
Karana and Sahoo, 2019; Manasrah et al., 2018; Niwalkar et al., 2019).
The NFs can be classified as hybrid NFs when more than one type of
NPs is used, which can be metallic or non-metallic NPs (Anitha et al.,
2019; Huang et al., 2016; Singh and Sarkar, 2020).
The NFs can be classified according to the BF in which the NPs are
dispersed either as water-based, aqueous-based, or non-aqueous –
based in which other fluids such as ethylene glycol or oils are used
(Angayarkanni and Philip, 2015; Borode et al., 2019; Ganvir et al.,
2017; Mukesh Kumar and Chandrasekar, 2020). As a result, the combi-
nation of various NPs with BF can result in a huge number of NFs, which
has enriched the literature with work on assessing their performance.
However, thermal performance (i.e., higher thermal conductivity and
the lower heat capacity along with lower density and viscosity) has
been the main objective of these studies, with less attention to the asso-
ciated EIs. The inclusion of EIs in the discussion of the overall perfor-
mance of NFs could help in better screening to shortlist promising,
efficient, and environmentally-friendly NFs.
2.3. Properties of nanofluids
NFs properties are somehow an intermediate between the proper-
ties of BF and NPs added. Hence the NFs properties depend mainly on
the properties of BF, properties of NPs, and the volume fraction of nano-
particles addition (φ) (Ali et al., 2018). It is desirable for HTF to have
lower density and viscosity, higher thermal conductivity, and heat ca-
pacity (Xuan and Li, 2000). Table 1 presents some of the thermophysical
Table 1
Thermophysical properties of common nanoparticle materials and base fluids (Hajatzadeh Pordanjani et al., 2019; Islam et al., 2017; Tawfik, 2017; Zhang, 2007).
Material Density, g/ml Viscosity, mPa·s
Alumina, Al2O3 3.60–4.0 – 0.765
Titania, TiO2 4.23 – 0.69
Silica, SiO2 2.40 – 0.745
Tenorite, CuO 6.49 – 0.831
Magnetite, Fe3O4 5.18 – 0.65
Water 1 0.854
3
Science of the Total Environment 763 (2021) 144202
properties of common NPs relative to water as a BF to better understand
the improvement obtained in the thermophysical properties of NFs rel-
ative to conventional HTFs. As shown in Table 1, a very clear increase in
thermal conductivity can be achieved, with such improvement mostly
dependent on volume fraction and NPs being added.
2.4. Applications of nanofluids
NFs, with their outstanding thermophysical properties, have been
used in a wide range of applications (Saidur et al., 2011). It is almost cer-
tain that NFs have been applied whenever there is a need for HTF com-
peting with conventional ones. The applications range from heat
exchangers (Hajatzadeh Pordanjani et al., 2019), automotive (Abbas
et al., 2020; Xian et al., 2019), solar applications (Hemmat Esfe et al.,
2020; Krishna et al., 2020), power generation (Prajapati, 2019), fuel
cells (Zakaria et al., 2015), and many others as compiled by
Subramanian et al. (Subramanian et al., 2019).
The application of NFs to enhance the heat transfer process brings
substantial environmental benefits of increasing the energy efficiency
of different processes, which in turn reduces energy consumption,
heat losses, or heat dissipation. Another attractive environmental bene-
fit of NFs is the enhancement of CO2 absorption, which is essential for
carbon capture (CC) hence mitigating the environmental impact of car-
bon emissions such as climate change and deteriorated air quality
(Wilberforce et al., 2020). The successful use of a wide range of
nanofluids for this application has been reported for metallic and non-
metallic NPs and in different base fluids, mainly amine solutions
(Darvanjooghi et al., 2018; Jung et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2008; Park
et al., 2006), which has been expanded to the absorption of other acidic
gases as well, such as hydrogen sulfide H2S (Esmaeili-Faraj and Nasr
Esfahany, 2016). Zhang et al. have shown that nanofluids' use has re-
sulted in an improvement in CO2 absorption range from 10 to 90% rela-
tive to the BF (Zhang et al., 2018).
2.5. Future directions for nanofluids
Nanofluids have been widely studied since its first application in
1995, which has shown very promising improvements in many applica-
tions (Choi and Eastman, 1995). However, the wide application of NF at
a large scale is still limited to a certain extent (Bakthavatchalam et al.,
2020; Saidur et al., 2011). Although of the many advantages of NF as
compared to BF of higher thermal conductivity, which enhances the
thermal performance greatly (Ali et al., 2018; Ganvir et al., 2017). NFs
have some disadvantages such as higher density and viscosity, which
increases the pumping power requirements, as well as the lower spe-
cific heat capacity, which in turn reduces the heat capacity of the fluid
(Kumar et al., 2015; Mukesh Kumar and Chandrasekar, 2020). Accord-
ingly, one of the main objectives in the area of NF developments is to op-
timally tailor NFs for the specific application intended, hence achieving
optimum performance.
The study of EIs of NFs is another important future direction that re-
quires more attention and is one of the main drivers for producing the
current work to emphasize its importance. It will be paramount to con-
sider studying the EIs of different NFs while still exploring at a small-
scale early stage. The detailed EI study will help reduce and mitigate
Specific heat capacity, J/g·K Thermal conductivity, W/m·K
36
8.4
1.34
33
17.65
4.18 0.615
K. Elsaid, A.G. Olabi, T. Wilberforce et al. Science of the Total Environment 763 (2021) 144202

any potential harm to the environment while still delivering the differ-
ent environmental benefits of energy savings.
3. Environmental impacts of nanoparticles
Nanoparticles (NPs) as one of the very promising engineered
nanomaterials, have received a lot of attention. The attention has been
spanning from synthesis and preparation of such nanoscale materials,
characterization, and application in many areas. In addition, good atten-
tion has been given to their EIs and their toxicity and biological effect
on humans and the environment. Engineered nanomaterials, especially
silver-based (Hadrup et al., 2020) and gold-based NPs (Grimaldi et al.,
2020), have been widely applied for many consumer products such as
cosmetics; hence their toxicities have been widely explored. In this re-
gard, we can discuss two main contributors to the EIs, including the asso-
ciated toxicity, the nature of the material, and then the size. The nature of
the material is related to the chemical compound of the NPs, i.e., silica
SiO2, alumina Al2O3, titania TiO2, which possess some inherited toxicity.
Then there is the additional risk or toxicity due to the size being in the
nanoscale.
3.1. Toxicity impacts of parent material of nanoparticles
NPs are usually made from a wide range of materials such as metallic
and non-metallic oxides, carbonous nanomaterial, as well as pure metals.
In this regard, most of NPs parent material such as metallic oxides (for ex-
ample, Al2O3, TiO2, CuO, and Fe3O4) and non-metallic oxides (for example
SiO2), are relatively inert when in bulk, and their powders can be assessed
according to standard air pollution criteria related to particulate matter.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency US-EPA specifies
general standards for particulate matters in the air according to the Na-
tional Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) as per their particle size
of 2.5 and 10 μm as PM2.5 and PM10, respectively (US-EPA, 2020). The
standard states 12 and 35 μg/m3 as primary standards of PM2.5 for one
year and 24 h, respectively, and 150 μg/m3 of PM10 for 24 h.
Safety data sheets (SDSs) are helpful to indicate the toxicity and haz-
ards of parent materials, regardless of their nano-size nature. Although
silica is commonly perceived as inert and safe to handle, crystalline silica
powder or dust has a threshold limit value (TLV) of 25 μg/m3 in air and a
lethal dose LD50 of 22.5 g/kg (Oral rat). Silica is also known to cause sil-
icosis upon extended exposure, as well as being considered as group 1
carcinogenic, according to the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) (US Silica Company, 2012). Similarly alumina has a TLV
of 1 mg/m3 and LD50 of 10 g/kg (Oral rat), and > 2.6 mg/l (4 h inhalation
rat) (Fisher Scientific Company, 2014a). Titania has TLV of 10 mg/m3
and LD50 of 10 g/kg (Oral rat), and 10 g/kg (dermal rabbit), and an
the presence of NPs in the environment. Some NPs are present naturally
due to the natural process of soil erosion and many other natural causes.
However, synthesized NPs, or commonly called engineered NPs, to dis-
tinguish it from natural NPs, are simply a result of anthropogenic activ-
ity (Wang et al., 2018).
Synthesis or production of NPs presents the first environmental as-
pect, as different synthesis methods or routes will have different EIs.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a very useful tool to assess the life-span
effect of a certain product and its different EIs. Pourzahedi and Eckelman
have performed an LCA for the production of silver Ag NPs, as widely
used in cosmetics (Pourzahedi and Eckelman, 2015). The authors com-
pared four different chemical routes (C-1 to C-4) and three physical
routes (P-1 to P-3) to synthesize Ag NPs. The primary LCA results are
shown in Fig. 1, which shows clearly that the synthesis or production
method has a significant effect on the associated EIs. Temizel-sekeryan
and Hicks obtained a similar result upon assessing the global EIs of Ag
NPs production methods using LCA techniques and indicated that 90
and 80% of environmental emissions could be reduced at global and in-
dustrial sector scales, respectively upon the scale-up of production
(Temizel-sekeryan and Hicks, 2020). Similarly, Grimaldi et al. have com-
pared the milli-continuous flow and batch methods for synthesis of gold
Au NPs using the LCA approach and concluded that the continuous flow
method has substantially less EIs, mainly due to milder synthesis condi-
tions, less hazardous waste, and lower labor (Grimaldi et al., 2020).
It is very challenging to predict the environmental concentrations of
different engineered NPs due to the uncertainties in emissions sources
and loads, physiochemical properties of NPs, and natural variability in
environmental systems (Sigmund et al., 2018). The release of NPs to
the environment components, i.e., atmosphere, water, and the soil,
moves to the air by volatilization or soil and water by deposition or spill-
age, which then enters biological systems (Mo et al., 2016). Meesters
et al. have developed a probabilistic model for environmental fate and
speciation of engineered CeO2, TiO2, and ZnO NPs in the atmosphere,
water, sediment, and soil for the European Union EU (Meesters et al.,
2016). The results obtained are present in Fig. 2, showing that higher
NPs concentrations are present in water as aggregated with the natural
colloid matter and in soil and sediment by attachment to grains and
trapped in voids.
100
90 OD
80
PS
70
AC
60
50
EU
40
30

ecotoxicity lethal concentration LC50 of 1 g/l – 96 h (Fisher Scientific 20

10
Company, 2014b). On the other hand, the cupric oxide is known to be
0
of high aquatic toxicity, both acute and chronic, with long-lasting ef- C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 P-1 P-2 P-3
fects. CuO has a TLV of 0.1 mg/m3, and LD50 of 2.5 g/kg (Oral rat), and
2 g/kg (dermal rabbit), with ecotoxicity, LC50 0.2 mg/l (Fisher 800
Scientific Company, 2015). 700 GW
One of the very effective methods to minimize or eliminate 600
FF
nanomaterials' EIs and toxicities is to use a more environmentally 500
friendly parent material. This is mainly due to the fact that reducing 400
the particle size of such material will tend to increase their hazard 300
level due to the increased activity and surface area of these materials.
200
Nanoparticles will also be harder to handle and remove from different
100
waste streams, and hence will be released to the environment.
0
C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 P-1 P-2 P-3
3.2. Environmental impacts of nanomaterial

The production and use of nanomaterials have been evolving dra-
matically over the last few decades; this is mainly due to the improved
production methods and the benefits brought by the application of
nanoparticles in many fields. A distinction has to be made to distinguish
Fig. 1. LCA assessment results for Ag NPs synthesis routes [adopted from (Pourzahedi and
Eckelman, 2015)]. (GW = global worming kg-CO2-eq; FF = fossil fuel depletion, MJ
surplus; OD = ozone depletion, mg CFC-11 eq, PS = photochemical smog kg O3-eq;
AC = acidification; kg SO2-eq, EU = ecotoxicity kg N-eq.) (C-1 to C-4 are chemical
synthesis routes, P-1 to P-3 are physical synthesis routes.)

4
K. Elsaid, A.G. Olabi, T. Wilberforce et al.
Fig. 2. Percentage predicted median environmental concentrations of NPs in the EU (Meesters et al., 2016).
3.3. Toxicity impacts of nanoparticles
The toxicity impacts of different nanomaterial have been a hot subject
of study as in the work of Pickrell (2007), Hougaard et al. (2011), Horie
and Fujita (2011), and Mo et al. (2016). Horie and Fujita have thoroughly
discussed the factors that have a biological effect such as particle size
(both primary and secondary, i.e., for aggregate and agglomerate), surface
area and surface activity/charge, solubility, adsorbability, zeta potential,
and particle shape and crystallinity (Horie and Fujita, 2011).
Bystrzejewska-Piotrowska et al. have discussed the potential toxicity
and the nano-waste generated due to the expanding use of NPs, and rec-
ommended the need for considering the impacts of NPs at earlier stages
of product design for proper waste management and to reduce the EIs
(Bystrzejewska-Piotrowska et al., 2009). Mu et al. have discussed the
chemical basis for interactions between biological systems and NPs at sys-
tematic, tissue/cell thoroughly, and molecular levels, as shown in Fig. 3,
considering different exposure or entry routes (Mu et al., 2014). Hewitt
et al. have discussed the toxicity mechanisms of various exposures to
NPs, indicating that such material is of a perfect size for cell interaction
through inhalation, oral, and dermal routes (Hewitt et al., 2020).
In toxicity science, the dose is considered the crucial affecting pa-
rameter; however, in the case of nanoparticles, some other parameters
matter more such as particle mass, size, number, surface area, or a
5
Science of the Total Environment 763 (2021) 144202
combination of all of the above (Hougaard et al., 2011). The main health
effects of nanomaterials are inflammation, allergy, genotoxicity, and
carcinogenicity, while developmental and reproductive toxicity effects
include pregnancy and fetal development, central nervous system, re-
productive system, and immune system (Hougaard et al., 2011).
Hou et al. have outlined the three main mechanisms by which TiO2
NPS have toxicity effect on organisms to be: 1) Generation of reactive
oxygen species (ROS), 2) cell wall damage and lipid peroxidation of
the cell membrane as a result of NP-cell attachment, and 3) NP attach-
ment to biological macromolecules and intercellular organelles (Hou
et al., 2019). Oxidative stress is one of the major cytotoxicity effects of
nanoparticles; this is simply a result of the unusual redox characteristics
it posses with the ability to produce ROS (Mo et al., 2016). The brain is
considered to be the most affected organs, although not in direct contact
with NPs as in the case of lungs, skin, gastro-intestinal, eyes, and nasal
structures; this is mainly due to the ROS, which reduces the oxygen
available for normal brain function (Pickrell, 2007). Czajka et al. have
summarized how NPs, as exemplified by TiO2, can affect the central ner-
vous system by in vitro and in vivo routes (Czajka et al., 2015). The
mechanism of TiO2 NPs toxicity effects on the central nervous system
is outlined in Fig. 4 via the four major exposure routes of nasal and
lung by inhalation, gut by swallowing and injection into the blood-
stream as the main carrier fluid of NPs.
K. Elsaid, A.G. Olabi, T. Wilberforce et al. Science of the Total Environment 763 (2021) 144202

Fig. 3. Nanoparticles interactions with biological systems (Mu et al., 2014).

Fig. 4. Toxicity mechanism of TiO2 NPs on the central nervous system (Czajka et al., 2015).

6
K. Elsaid, A.G. Olabi, T. Wilberforce et al. Science of the Total Environment 763 (2021) 144202

Donaldson et al. have shown that attention should be given to the
solubility of NPs, as upon their dissolution in acidic medium, as in the
phagolysosomes and lysosomes medium, it releases different toxin
(Donaldson et al., 2013). It was shown that although most nanoparticles
are not soluble in neutral media such as water, CuO, MgO, and ZnO NPS
have shown almost complete solubility at pH of 5.5, compared to almost
no solubility at pH of 7.4 (Cho et al., 2012).
Petushkov et al. have summarized the toxicity of different silica
nanomaterials, with a focus on silica NPs (Petushkov et al., 2010). The
14–16 nm silica NPs was reported to have an effective dose ED50 of
33–47 μg/cm2, while that of 104 and 335 nm have ED50 of 1,095 and
1,087 μg/cm2, it worth mentioning that the toxicity was reported on
the basis of mass flux (mass per surface area), rather than the concen-
tration (i.e., mass per volume), and it was concluded that the cytotoxic-
ity increases with the decrease of particle size generally in the range of
2–335 nm.
Kim et al. have characterized sewage sludge, and soils amended with
soil sludge and identified TiO2 particles as small as 40 nm and as large as
300 nm in sewage sludge, mainly as small and loosely packed aggre-
gates (Kim et al., 2012). While in samples of amended soils, TiO2 NPs
were found to be aggregated with silver on their surface. Ettrup et al.
have developed a comparative toxicity potential of TiO2 NPs to be
used in life cycle assessment (LCA), for human toxicity of about
1.90 ∗ 10−6, and 1.7 ∗ 10−5 cases/kg-emitted for cancer and non-
cancer effects, respectively associated with emissions to air, while
those for emissions to freshwater and soil were 1.2 ∗ 10−6, and
1.4 ∗ 10−8 cases/kg-emitted, respectively (Ettrup et al., 2017).
The major environmental effect from such toxicity characteristics of
NPs is the antibacterial effects, which can result in increased mortality of
organisms when discharged to aquatic systems and changes in photo-
synthesis, metabolic, and growth rates of such organisms (Król et al.,
2017). The natural organic matter (NOM) present in aquatic systems
has a profound effect on environmental processes and toxicity of NPs,
specifically metallic NPs, as NOM tends to alter the toxicity of NPs
(Wang et al., 2016).
viscosity and density of NFs, which will lead to higher pumping energy
requirement, and higher friction and pressure drop, as well as erosion in
the material of construction of heat exchange and fluid transfer equip-
ment (Abbas et al., 2020; Das et al., 2006; Saidur et al., 2011).
The EIs of NF depend on the preparation method, i.e., one-step or
two-steps approaches. Barberio et al. have compared the production
of alumina NF using different approaches employing combined LCA
and qualitative risk assessment (QRA) (Barberio et al., 2014). The results
indicated a close or equal QRA level for the two approaches for NF pro-
duction; however, there were varied LCA results, mainly due to the dif-
ferent inventories used for both methods. The one-step approach has
EIs almost three times that of two-steps, as shown in Fig. 5. The results
obtained show as well that most of the EIs, and hence the values for dif-
ferent environmental factors, are originated or due to NPs production;
hence it represents the significant contributor.
The mitigation and control of NF's different EIs will be mainly de-
pending on optimally designing the NF for the intended specific applica-
tion. The type of NP and its loading, along with its synthesis route, has to
be considered when selecting the NP for the production of NF. The use of
natural materials such as silica, alumina, iron oxides, and many others
are inherited with much lower EIs as no need for the synthetic produc-
tion of such particles. This, in turn, will reduce the energy and resources
utilized for NPs production. The use of NPs sourced from natural re-
sources has another advantage of improving the sustainability level of
NFs. The use of such natural material helps to reduce the manufacturing
requirements in terms of energy and material. The use of a non-toxic
type of NPs, which are usually natural NPs as well, helps further to re-
duce any potential toxicity of NFs during application and when disposed
to the environment. Similarly, the use of lower NPs loadings should re-
duce any EIs impacts associated with NF's final disposal to the environ-
ment, which should be further considered when using NFs with
potential toxicity to aquatic life and adverse negative effects on the en-
vironment. The interaction between NPs and BF forming the NF should
be considered, as it can result in additional hazardous or more
severe EIs.

4. Environmental impacts of nanofluids

Based on the information discussed in Section 3 with respect to the 60

environmental and toxicity impacts of NPs, a discussion can be made AC

50
on the EIs of NFs. As explained, NFs can be handled as a suspension of OD
NPs in a BF. As a result, the EIs of NFs are simply a combination of the 40

EIs of NPs and BF. The comprehensive discussion has been given in the RE
30
previous section for NPs as they are the key components in NFs, as
well as due to the fact that even though many BFs are available, water 20

is the most and widely used HTF, with very significant benefits of
10
being available, non-toxic, non-flammable, safer, and easy to handle,
among many other advantages. As a result, the main EIs of NFs will be 0
originated from three main factors; first, the type of NPs used, Al-OS-1 Al-OS-2 Al-TS-1 Al-TS-2 Al-TS-3 Al-TS-4

i.e., chemical, physical, toxical, and environmental characteristics and

properties. Second is the load or volume fraction of NPs addition to 18,000 1,400
the base fluid to obtain the desired improvement in thermophysical 16,000 GW
1,200
properties. The third is the method of NF preparation. 14,000
NPs have been applied in wide loads range in different BFs. In water FF 1,000
GW, kg-CO2-eq

12,000
FF, MJ surplus

as BF, silica SiO2 is applied in the range of 1–5 wt% have increased the 10,000 800
thermal conductivity by about 20–40% (Akilu et al., 2017), while alu- 8,000 600
mina Al2O3 in the range of 3–13 wt% result in a 10–20% increase 6,000
400
(Zakaria et al., 2015). Similarly, titania TiO2 in the range of 3–5 wt% re- 4,000
sult in 15–33% increase in thermal conductivity (Singh et al., 2019), 2,000
200

while tenorite CuO applied in the range of 0.5–2% resulted in 18–24% 0 0

(Barbés et al., 2014), as well as for magnetite Fe3O4 at loads of 1–5 wt Al-OS-1 Al-OS-2 Al-TS-1 Al-TS-2 Al-TS-3 Al-TS-4
% resulting in a 15–45% enhancement of thermal conductivity (Syam
Sundar et al., 2013). So it is clear that the load of NPs applied to NFs de-
Fig. 5. LCA of alumina-water NF production [adopted from (Barberio et al., 2014)]. (Al =
pends significantly on the type of NPs and the desired thermal enhance- alumina; OS = one-step synthesis; TS = two-step synthesis; GW = global warming,
ment. Generally speaking, it seems that most NPs' loads are up to 10 wt kg-CO2-eq; FF = fossil fuel, MJ surplus; AC = aquatic acidification, kg SO2-eq; OD =
%, which is desirable in order not to have a significant increase in ozone depletion, kg FCF-11 eq; RE = respiratory effects, PM2.5-eq.)

7
K. Elsaid, A.G. Olabi, T. Wilberforce et al.
5. Conclusions
Nanofluids NFs application in various fields has been evolving,
mainly due to the improved thermophysical properties of such fluids
and their improved performance as heat transfer fluid. The use of NFs
is believed to improve energy efficiency, especially related to enhanced
heat transfer and hence energy conversion efficiency. This is also
thought to provide the environmental and economic benefits of re-
duced energy consumption for a specific duty. However, there are
some other EIs that have to be thoroughly considered upon the use of
NF. The nanoparticles NPs added to base fluid BF, has many environ-
mental and toxicity impacts, as well as for the BF, which can be ignored
for the later when water is used. It was found that the major contributor
to the overall environmental and toxicological impacts of NF is due to
NPs. The characteristics and loading of NPs, along with the NF produc-
tion method, i.e., one-step or two-step, are the main factors. However,
we firmly believe that further studies are required to affirm such logical
assumptions and provide more results on the EIs of NFs. Nanofluids
have also been widely applied without quantifying the resultant envi-
ronmental benefits, which need to be addressed by further research.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Khaled Elsaid: Conceptualization, Data curation, Writing – original
draft, Writing – review & editing. A.G. Olabi: Conceptualization, Data
curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Supervi-
sion. Tabbi Wilberforce: Writing – original draft, Writing – review &
editing. Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem: Conceptualization, Writing –
original draft, Writing – review & editing. Enas Taha Sayed: Writing –
original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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