Advanced Materials

This report analyzes the opportunities for smart coatings in PV applications, with a focus on the four types of smart coatings poised to bring the most value to the PV sector: self-cleaning, self-repairing, electrochromic, and thermochromic coating systems. The report also discusses the strategies of some of the important and emerging suppliers or users of smart coating including: Almaden, Cardinal Glass, Gentex, Lotus Leaf Coatings, nanoShell, Nippon Glass, Nissan, Peer+, Pilkington/AGC, PPG, SAGE, Saint-Gobain, Soladigm, and others.

The North American market for technical and advanced structural ceramics was valued at nearly $3.5 billion in 2011 and is expected to increase to $4.4 billion in 2016, a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1%. The North American market for technical and advanced structural ceramics can be separated into six segments by application: bioceramics, advanced armor and military equipment, wear-, erosion-, and corrosion-resistant components, cutting tools and tool inserts, energy- and high-temperature-resistant components, and aircraft and aerospace equipment.

According to a new technical market research report, the global volume for plastics in electronic components is expected to reach 3.5 billion pounds in 2012 and increase to 4.4 billion pounds in 2017, a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7%. The global market for plastics in electronic components can be separated into two segments: thermoplastic and thermoset. In 2012, thermoplastics are expected to total nearly 2.5 billion pounds and, in 2017, the volume should reach 3.1 billion pounds, a CAGR of 4.9%.

Analysts continue to believe that there are opportunities for commercialization of smart coatings in the photovoltaics (PV) sector, even though the PV market is quite different today than it was just a year ago, both from an economic and a political perspective. Starting in 2012, the PV market is entering a period of reduced growth. This new market is very different from the one of the last several years, in which year-to-year growth in production doubled (or more), even in the midst of a worldwide recession.  Today, however, a glut of conventional crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV modules on the market after over-production by the Chinese PV panel makers, along with dropping prices, is expected to significantly slow growth rates in PV production starting in 2012 and for the next few years.

Analysts estimate that the total market for BIPV glass will reach $6.4 billion (USD) in revenues in 2016 compared to $1.5 billion in 2012. The report analyzes the opportunities for BIPV glass products using c-Si, thin-film and OPV/DSC materials and provides eight-year forecasts in terms of MW and square footage shipped as well as forecasts of revenue generated.  The report also contains an extensive discussion of the product evolution of BIPV glass and a forecast of each product type.

In the past few years, there has been much talk about “transparent electronics,” but few, if any, attempts to assess the potential size of this market or whether there are genuine opportunities to be found in it. This recent report fills this gap and provides the first assessment of transparent electronics from a commercial, rather than technological, perspective. The report covers both opportunities at the applications and at the materials level.

Lithium-ion batteries have increasingly become the workhorse power source for the consumer electronics and power tool market and they are finding new applications all the time. For example, some firms are developing lithium-ion batteries for the electric vehicle (EV) market, while others see them as a better bet than the more traditional chemical storage batteries currently used in smart electricity grids.

In a recent release, the sales of lasers in the three main regions of the Americas; Asia-Pacific (APAC); and the European, Middle Eastern, African (EMEA) region totaled nearly $8 billion for 2011. That value is projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.5% between 2011 and 2016, reaching $12.5 billion in 2016. The region made up of the Americas was valued at $2.3 billion in 2011 and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 7.9% to reach $3.4 billion in 2016.

In a newly released report, industry analysts state that the conductive coatings market has morphed from a stable, established business ecosystem into a more dynamic and important growth opportunity for materials companies as new forms of electronics emerge.  The report titled estimates that the total market for conductive coatings will grow at a CAGR of about 10% from a value of $9.5 billion (USD) in 2012 to approximately $13.8 billion in 2016.

The global market for metamaterials was worth $222.3 million in 2010 and $256.1 million in 2011. Analysts expect the market to grow to $758.7 million by 2016, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.3% since 2011, and to reach $1.9 billion by 2021, a CAGR of 19.6% between 2016 and 2021.