Carbon Nanotubes Market

Market Overview

The global carbon nanotube market was valued at USD 9.6 billion, growing at a CAGR of 16.6% during the forecast period.

Carbon nanotubes comprise cylindrical molecules containing a rolled-up sheet of single-layer carbon atoms. The length of carbon nanotubes could range from a few micrometers to millimeters. Moreover, carbon nanotubes offer a slew of features, such as ultra-high strength, low weight materials, and highly conductive electrical and thermal properties. These features allow carbon nanotubes to serve a range of application areas, including electronics, polymers, aerospace, medicine, defense, automotive, and energy, among others.

Market Dynamics

High demand from industry verticals such as electrical and electronics and automotive, increasing demand for lightweight and low carbon-emitting vehicles, and technological advancement and decreasing production costs are the factors fuelling the market growth. However, environmental concerns and health and safety issues hinder market growth.

High Demand from the Electrical, Electronics, and Automotive Industries

Over the past few decades, carbon nanotubes have witnessed substantial growth in the electronics and automotive industry on account of their applications across sensors, smart textiles, energy conversion devices, semiconductors displays, and batteries, among others. Moreover, the growing adoption of cost-effective, flexible displays and touch screens also boosts the adoption rate of carbon nanotubes. For instance, in June 2018, LG Display launched a 77-inch flexible and transparent OLED display.

Regional Analysis

Presence of Established Players in North America

North America holds a substantial share and is anticipated to witness growth during the forecast period. The growth is attributed to the presence of key vendors offering carbon nanotubes, including nano-C Inc., Cnano Technology Ltd, and Continental Carbon Company, among others. Moreover, the early adoption of technologies to enhance productivity is also one of the factors propelling the growth in the region. Furthermore, increasing government initiatives to promote energy and electronics sectors in the region also fuels the market growth. For instance, in April 2018, the U.S. Government has announced National Infrastructural Plan to enhance energy and electronics sectors in the U.S. and Mexico.

Asia-Pacific’s Booming Economies to Provide An Impetus to Market Growth

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region in carbon nanotubes and is presumed to grow during the forecast period on account of growing investment in developing economies such as India and China. Moreover, the presence of abundant electronics manufacturing industries in China, Japan, and Singapore also pave the way for the adoption of carbon nanotubes. Furthermore, favorable government initiatives in developing economies to adopt renewable energy sources over conventional energy escalate the demand for carbon nanotubes. For instance, the Government of India has announced the National Solar Mission to promote the adoption of solar energy in the country.

Segmental Analysis

Increasing Number of Electronic Applications and Digitalization

The multi-walled carbon nanotube segment holds a higher market share and is expected to grow during the forecast period. The growth is attributed to a number of electronics applications, such as flexible batteries, smart displays, conductive transparent electrodes, chemical sensors, supercapacitors, energy storage devices, and conductive nano inks, among others. Moreover, flourishing digitization across various industrial verticals such as manufacturing is also one of the factors propelling the demand for carbon nanotubes. For instance, in June 2020, LG has announced to invest approximately USD 53 million to expand carbon nanotubes production to meet the increasing demand for automobile parts, aircraft fuselages, and batteries, among others.

Cost-Effective Chemical Vapor Deposition

The chemical vapor deposition segment holds a significant share and is anticipated to witness growth during the forecast period. The growth is due to its cheaper cost compared to other methods that enable various manufacturers to adopt this method for carbon nanotubes production. Furthermore, growing government initiatives towards energy generation is also one of the factors fuelling the market growth. Moreover, the growing demand for high productivity and efficiency and cost-effective solutions across the globe in order to gain maximum profits also pave the way for the chemical vapor deposition method.

Rising Demand for Electronic Devices Across Several Industry Verticals

The electronics and semiconductor segment holds a higher CAGR and is presumed to grow during the forecast period, owing to the demand for electronics devices across all industrial verticals on account of growing trends of automation. Moreover, the growing demand for smart electronic products such as wearables, flexible displays, batteries, and smartphones are also one of the factors escalating market growth.

Furthermore, increasing demand for energy generation such as wind and solar energy on account of various government initiatives also pave the way for carbon nanotubes adoption. For instance, in December 2019, the Government of India (GoI) launched an initiative to adopt a renewable source of energy in order to reduce pollution and tap maximum energy. This enables a surge in advanced technologies to implement energy generation techniques, thereby paving the way for carbon nanotubes demand.

Impact of covid-19

The impact of COVID-19 has brought forth an unprecedented effect across all industry verticals globally. The market of carbon nanotubes has witnessed a decline due to stringent regulations by the government to curb pandemic COVID-19 that includes a halt of international flights and cross borders activities, among others. This has led to a disruption in; production, supply chain, and logistics of carbon nanotubes, which are required for the production of flexible displays, batteries, and aircraft fuselages, among others. However, the market for carbon nanotubes is foreseen to grow post-pandemic at an exponential rate on account of the rising demand for electronic devices and automobile parts, among others.

Furthermore, increasing trends for automation to enhance remote working facilities across different sectors has paved the way for the carbon nanotubes market, as carbon nanotubes exhibit unique electrical properties for building electronic devices such as field-effect transistors and diodes. Additionally, carbon nanotube-based diodes also help to emit heat out of the computer chips due to their unique thermal transmission properties.

Recent Developments

• January 2019, SABIC has acquired BLACK DIAMOND STRUCTURES, a major nanotechnology company in the U.S.. The company offers various products that consist of discrete carbon nanotubes (dCNTs) uniformly dispersed in battery pastes, which enhance battery performance
• In February 2018, the U.S. Huntsman acquired carbon nanotube firm Nanocomp Technologies to develop composite materials and formulations that produce several valuable effects such as radiative heating, electrical conductivity, toughening, and corrosion prevention
• In January 2020, Cabot has acquired a China-based carbon nanotubes manufacturer. The acquisition significantly strengthens Cabot’s market position and formulation capabilities in the high-growth batteries market, particularly in China, which is the largest and fastest-growing electric vehicle market in the world.
• In March 2019, Nano Inc. acquired Eikos Inc. to enhance its single-walled carbon nanotubes product portfolio. This enables Nano Inc. to strengthen its position in the market and gain wide customer attraction.