Why hybrid composite materials? Findings from a systematic literature review of life cycle assessments

Abstract

The article explores the relevant environmental issues of hybrid composite materials, that are defined as those systems in which two reinforcing or filling materials are added to a matrix, or a reinforcement or filler is added to a blend of matrices. To that end, a systematic literature review of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) in the field was carried out by the authors according to the PRISMA model, given that LCA is internationally recognized to be a scientifically-based valid methodology for assessing and improving sustainability issues of products and services. Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus were used to perform the bibliographical search, those are globally recognized to be the most comprehensive databases of peer-reviewed journals and, so, to store the broadest range of scientific articles. The analysis of literature on the field of the lifecycle assessment (LCA) of hybrid materials have shown that this is a new path still to be explored. While LCA is widely used for the assessment of environmental properties of different materials and applications, to date only few papers apply this methodology to assess the lifecycle of hybrid materials. Results retrieved have been combined to obtain the core works assessed in this review, finding that currently the literature about the application of LCA methodologies for assessing the impacts of hybrid composites is very limited, with not many references found to date, and thus there is huge potential for future growing in this path.