Sustainable Multifunctional Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) Framework for Activated Carbon Materials: Linking Synthesis Procedure to Adsorption Performance

Advancing technology drives the need for multifunctional materials, while global priorities demand that such performance be achieved through green chemistry to ensure truly sustainable development. Activated carbon (AC), in particular, may satisfy these requirements; thus, scholars are investing considerable effort to translate AC cost-effective lab production. However, adsorption and synthesis protocols involve repetitive steps that add substantial costs to material development. This study introduces a multifunctional activity-based life-cycle costing (ABC-LCC) methodology for waste-derived activated carbon, applied across three pollutants, diclofenac (DCL), ketoprofen (KETO), and atenolol (ATE). The method provides a multipollutant economic assessment at the laboratory scale. Material costs, approximately 61.6%, are the largest contributor to synthesis LCC. Adsorption dominates the LCC for KETO, around 90%, while among the pollutants studied, only DCL shows a high regeneration percentage, approximately 31%. DCL is the most economical pollutant to remove, with a life-cycle cost of 0.43 €/mg, whereas KETO is the most expensive at 1.39 €/mg. The results show that environmental and economic performance share a common denominator: Qmax, the same adsorption capacity that determines pollutant removal efficiency also governs the life-cycle cost of treatment. Qmax therefore acts as the unifying factor that drives both sustainability and cost-effectiveness.