Advanced Materials

The global electro-active polymers product market is expected to be worth $3.4 billion by 2017 and is forecasted to grow by a CAGR of 7.7% from 2012-2017. The conductive plastics segment contributed approximately 84% to the overall electro-active polymer market in 2011, mainly due to its extensive application in electrostatic discharge and electromagnetic interference. As the EAP market is still in the early phase of its growth, it presents many advantages for the early movers. As there are not many players in the market, detailed knowledge of the competitors will be crucial for the success of each company.

According to a new technical market research report, the global market for thin and ultrathin films was valued at nearly $9.3 billion in 2011 and is expected to increase to $14.9 billion in 2016, a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10%. The ultrathin film material market can be broken down into two main segments: chemical and physical processes.  The chemical processes segment accounted for nearly $5.1 billion in 2011 and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 7.8% to reach $7.4 billion in 2016. The physical processes segment accounted for nearly $4.2 billion in 2011 and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 12.3% to reach nearly $7.5 billion in 2016.

The world market for Superconductors is projected to reach US$8.8 billion by the year 2017. Growth will be primarily driven by encouraging technology developments and breakthroughs in applications in the power sector and the ensuing successful commercialization and widespread adoption of superconducting magnetic energy storage systems (SMES). Robust demand from Asian countries, particularly China, Korea and India, also augurs well for the market.

According to a new technical market research report, New Electronic Materials and Device Technologies: Global Markets, the total market for new electronic materials is projected to increase from $27.6 million in 2010 and $30.7 million in 2011 to more than $5.5 billion in 2016 and almost $26 billion in 2021, with compound annual growth rates, CAGR of 182.5% and 36.3% from 2011 to 2016 and 2016 to 2021, respectively.

The coolest new nanomaterial of the 21^st century could boost the efficiency of the next generation of solar panels, a team of Michigan Technological University materials scientists has discovered. Graphene, a two-dimensional honeycomb of carbon atoms, is a rising star in the materials community for its radical properties. One of those properties is electrical conductivity, which could make it a key ingredient in the next generation of photovoltaic cell.

According to a new technical market research report, the North American market for high-performance ceramic coatings was worth more than $1.3 billion in 2010. This figure is expected to increase to more than $1.4 billion in 2011 and to more than $2 billion by 2016 at a projected five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4%. The ceramic coatings market can be broken down into four segments by coating technology: thermal spray, PVD (physical vapor deposition), CVD (chemical vapor deposition), and other.

Researchers estimate that the total market value of DSC modules at the application level will grow from about $40 million in 2012 to over $500 million by 2015.  Then, after building-integrated PV (BIPV) applications for DSC PV take off, the firm anticipates that the market value will exceed $4.4 billion by 2019. At the same time, the market for DSC materials is expected to grow from a value of just under $12 million in 2012 to over $1.2 billion by 2019.

Electrochemical capacitors (ECs), also known as supercapacitors or ultracapacitors, differ from regular capacitors that you would find in your TV or computer in that they store substantially higher amounts of charges. They have garnered attention as energy storage devices as they charge and discharge faster than batteries, yet they are still limited by low energy densities, only a fraction of the energy density of batteries. Now researchers at UCLA have used a standard LightScribe DVD optical drive to produce such electrodes. The electrodes are composed of an expanded network of graphene - a one-atom-thick layer of graphitic carbon  - that shows excellent mechanical and electrical properties as well as exceptionally high surface area.

Two new studies performed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have revealed a new pathway for materials scientists to use previously unexplored properties of nanocrystalline-diamond thin films. While the properties of diamond thin films are relatively well-understood, the new discovery could dramatically improve the performance of certain types of integrated circuits by reducing their "thermal budget."

A team of MIT researchers has developed a way of making a high-temperature version of a kind of materials called photonic crystals, using metals such as tungsten or tantalum. The new materials — which can operate at temperatures up to 1200 degrees Celsius — could find a wide variety of applications powering portable electronic devices, spacecraft to probe deep space, and new infrared light emitters that could be used as chemical detectors and sensors.