The Global Market for Conductive Inks to 2030

The global market for conductive inks is estimated at >$2.5 billion in annual revenues, and will continue to grow as applications proliferate in sensors, wearables, smart packaging, flexible electronics, OLEDs, thin film transistors, photovoltaics, smart textiles, automotive and more.

Not only will demand across all current markets grow, but the development of new materials and processes is leading to the creation of new market opportunities for conductive ink producers and suppliers in flexible, customized and 3D printed electronics. Opportunities explored in this report include:

• Flexible and stretchable electronics.
• Printed electronics for smartphones (printed antennas, touch screens).
• Printed circuit boards.
• 3D printing.
• Smart packaging.
• Photovoltaics.
• Flexible lighting.
• Flexible displays.
• Wearables and IoT.
• Healthcare wearable monitoting.
• Smart textiles.

Copper and silver inks will continue to dominate the market for the next few years but growth in flexible electronics necessitates the development of new materials. Conductive ink materials explored in this report include:

• Copper ink.
• Silver ink.
• Conductive polymers.
• Copper nanoparticles.
• Metal nanoparticles.
• Carbon nanotubes.
• Graphene.
• Gold nanoparticles.

Report contents include:

• Conductive inks market forecasts.
• In depth assessment of conductive ink types including properties, advantages, disadvantages, prospects, applications and revenues.
• Opportunity assessment by application and market including photovoltaics, touch screens, flexible displays, automotive, 3D printing, sensors, printed circuit boards, electronic textiles and wearables, RFID, printed memory and transistors, printed heaters, conductive pens etc.
• Latest products.
• >125 company profiles. Companies profiled include Agfa-Gevaert N.V., Asahi Kasei, Bando Chemical Industries
  BeBop Sensors, BotFactory, Daicel Corporation, DuPont Advanced Materials, Electroninks Writeables, Fujikura Kasei Co Ltd., Genes 'Ink, Henkel, Hitachi Chemical, Kishu Giken Kogyo Co.,Ltd., Liquid X Printed Metals, Inc., Sun Chemical, The Sixth Element, T-Ink, Toyobo etc.

The Global Market for Conductive Inks to 2030
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 Market drivers 18
1.2 The evolution of electronics 20
2.1 The wearables revolution 21
2.2 Flexible, thin, and large-area form factors 22
1.3 Flexible and stretchable electronics 23
3.1 From rigid to flexible and stretchable 23
3.2 Organic and printed electronics 25
3.3 New conductive materials 25
3.4 Stretchable conductors 28
3.5 Applications 28
1.4 Products 29
1.5 Global market for conductive inks 2015-2030, by type 34

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3 CONDUCTIVE INK MATERIALS

3.1 Conductive ink types 37
3.1.1 Conductive ink materials 38
3.1.2 Advanced materials solutions 39
3.1.3 Commercially available conductive ink products 41
3.1.4 Improvements in conductive ink performance 43
3.2 Printing methods 43
3.2.1 Nanoparticle ink 46
3.3 Sintering 47
3.4 Conductive Filaments 47
3.5 Conductive films, foils and grids 47
3.6 Inkjet printing in flexible electronics 47
3.7 CARBON NANOTUBES 48
3.7.1 Properties 48
3.7.1.1 Single-walled carbon nanotubes 50
3.7.2 Applications 51
3.8 Prices 51
3.9 Companies 52
3.10 CONDUCTIVE POLYMERS (CP)
3.10.1 Properties 53
3.10.1.1 PDMS 54
3.10.1.2 PEDOT: PSS 54
3.10.1.2.1 Transparency 54
3.10.2 Applications 55
3.10.3 Prices 55
3.10.4 Companies 56
3.11 GRAPHENE 57
3.11.1 Properties 58
3.11.2 Applications 60
3.11.3 Prices 63
3.11.4 Companies 64
3.12 SILVER INK (Flake, nanoparticles, nanowires, ion) 66
3.12.1 Silver flake 66
3.12.2 Silver (Ag) nanoparticle ink 66
3.12.2.1 Conductivity 68
3.12.3 Silver nanowires 69
3.12.4 Applications 70
3.12.5 Prices 71
3.12.5.1 Cost for printed area 72
3.12.6 Companies 73
3.13 COPPER INK AND PASTE 75
3.13.1 Copper (Cu) nanoparticle ink 75
3.13.2 Silver-coated copper 76
3.13.3 Applications 77
3.13.4 Prices 77
3.13.5 Companies 78

3.14 NANOCELLULOSE

3.14.1 Properties 80
3.14.2 Applications 82
3.14.2.1 Cellulose nanofibers in conductive inks 83
3.14.2.2 Cellulose nanocrystals in conductive inks 83
3.14.3 Prices 83
3.15 GOLD (Au) INK 84
3.15.1 Properties 84
3.15.2 Applications 84
3.15.3 Prices 84
3.15.4 Companies 85
3.16 SILOXANE INKS 86
3.16.1 Properties 86
3.17 SINTERED DIE ATTACH PASTE 90
3.17.1 Properties 90
3.17.2 Prices 91
3.17.3 Companies 91

4 MARKETS FOR CONDUCTIVE INKS

4.1 TOUCHSCREENS AND DISPLAYS 94
4.1.1 Transparent conductive electrodes 95
4.1.2 Flexible and stretchable transparent electrodes 98
4.1.2.1 Carbon nanotubes (SWNT) 99
4.1.2.2 Double-walled carbon nanotubes 100
4.1.2.3 Graphene 100
4.1.2.4 Silver nanowires 101
4.1.2.5 Nanocellulose 102
4.1.2.5.1 Flexible energy storage 103
4.1.2.6 Copper nanowires 103
4.1.3 E-Readers 104
4.1.4 Global market size 105

4.2 PRINTED AND FLEXIBLE SENSORS

4.2.1 Flexible and stretchable transistors 110
4.2.2 Flexible and stretchable actuators 112
4.2.3 Stretchable artificial skin 113
4.2.4 Wearable gas sensors 115
4.2.5 Wearable strain sensors 116
4.2.6 Piezoresistive sensors 116
4.2.7 Glucose sensors 116
4.2.8 Capacitive sensors 116
4.2.9 Global market size 117
4.3 RFID 122
4.3.1 Smart labels 124
4.3.2 Printed antennas 124
4.3.3 Global market size 126

4.4 MEDICAL AND HEALTHCARE SENSORS AND WEARABLES

4.4.1 Biosensors 131
4.4.1.1 Nanomaterials-based devices 131
4.4.2 Patch-type skin sensors 134
4.4.3 Skin temperature monitoring 136
4.4.4 Hydration sensors 137
4.4.5 Wearable sweat sensors 137
4.4.6 Smart footwear 139
4.4.7 Global market size 141
4.5 ELECTRONIC TEXTILES (E-TEXTILES) 144
4.5.1 Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) films 149
4.5.2 Stretchable e-textile inks 149
4.5.3 Conductive fibres 150
4.5.4 Conductive yarns 151
4.5.5 Stretchable yarns for electronics 152
4.5.6 Stretchable E-fabrics 152
4.5.7 Conductive coatings 153
4.5.8 Solar energy harvesting textiles 155
4.5.9 Global market size 156

4.6 ENERGY STORAGE AND HARVESTING

4.6.1 Printed, flexible and stretchable batteries 163
4.6.1.1 Flexible and stretchable LIBs 165
4.6.1.1.1 Fiber-shaped Lithium-Ion batteries 166
4.6.1.1.2 Stretchable lithium-ion battery 166
4.6.1.1.3 Kirigami lithium-ion battery 167
4.6.1.1.4 Stretchable Zn-based batteries 168
4.6.2 Flexible and stretchable supercapacitors 168
4.6.3 Stretchable heaters 170
4.6.4 Photovoltaics 172
4.6.5 Printed heaters 175
4.6.6 Global market size 176

4.7 OTHER ELECTRONICS

4.7.1 In-mold electronics 180
4.7.2 Printed, flexible and stretchable circuit boards and interconnects 183
4.7.3 Printed, flexible and stretchable transistors 185
4.7.4 LED lighting 186
4.7.5 Stretchable lighting 187
4.7.6 Printed transistors 188
4.7.7 Printed logic and memory 189
4.7.8 EMI shielding 191
4.7.9 3D printed electronics 191
4.7.10 Global market size 192

4.8 AUTOMOTIVE

4.8.1 Applications of conductive inks in automotive 193
5 COMPANY PROFILES 196

6 REFERENCES

List of Tables

Table 1: Market drivers for conductive inks 18
Table 2: Evolution of wearable devices, 2011-2017 21
Table 3: Advanced materials for Printed, flexible and stretchable sensors and Electronics-Advantages and disadvantages 26
Table 4: Sheet resistance (RS) and transparency (T) values for transparent conductive oxides and alternative materials for transparent conductive electrodes (TCE) 27
Table 5: Main markets for conductive inks, applications and revenues 34
Table 6: Global market for conductive inks 2015-2030, revenues (million $), by ink types 35
Table 7: Typical conductive ink formulation 38
Table 8. Comparative properties of conductive inks 38
Table 9: Comparative properties of conductive inks 39
Table 10: Applications in conductive inks by type and benefits thereof 39
Table 11. Commercially available conductive ink products 41
Table 12: Characteristics of analog printing processes for conductive inks 44
Table 13: Characteristics of digital printing processes for conductive inks 45
Table 14: Properties of CNTs and comparable materials 49
Table 15. Price of carbon nanotubes in conductive inks 51
Table 16: Carbon nanotube conductive ink producers 52
Table 17: Types of flexible conductive polymers, properties and applications 54
Table 18. Conductive polymer prices 55
Table 19: Conductive polymer producers 56
Table 20: Properties of graphene 58
Table 21. Price of graphene in conductive inks 63
Table 22: Graphene conductive ink producers 64
Table 23. Price of silver conductive inks 71
Table 24: Silver conductive ink producers 73
Table 25. Price of copper conductive inks 77
Table 26: Copper conductive ink producers 78
Table 27: Nanocellulose properties 80
Table 28: Properties and applications of nanocellulose 81
Table 29: Properties of flexible electronics‐cellulose nanofiber film (nanopaper) 81
Table 30. Price of nanocellulose conductive inks 83
Table 31. Price of gold conductive inks 84
Table 32: Copper conductive ink producers 85
Table 33. Prices for sintered die attach paste 91
Table 34: Sintered die attach paste producers 91
Table 35: Transparent conductive switches-PEDOT 95
Table 36: Comparison of ITO replacements 96
Table 37: Applications in printed, flexible and stretchable electronics, by advanced materials type and benefits thereof 97
Table 38. Materials, transmittance, electrical property, and stretchability of stretchable transparent electrodes 98
Table 39: Graphene properties relevant to application in sensors 114
Table 40: Global market for wearable electronics, 2015-2030, by application, billions $ 118
Table 41: Opportunities for advanced materials in printed electronics 123
Table 42: Wearable medical device products and stage of development 128
Table 43: Applications in flexible and stretchable health monitors, by advanced materials type and benefits thereof. 132
Table 44: Applications in patch-type skin sensors, by materials type and benefits thereof 136
Table 45: Types of smart textiles 145
Table 46: Examples of smart textile products 145
Table 47: Currently available technologies for smart textiles 146
Table 48: Electronic textiles products 147
Table 49: Applications in E-textiles, by advanced materials type and benefits thereof 148
Table 51: Applications and benefits of graphene in textiles and apparel 154
Table 52: Global electronic textiles market 2015-2030, revenues (billions USD) 157
Table 54: Wearable energy storage and energy harvesting products 161
Table 55: Applications in flexible and stretchable batteries, by nanomaterials type and benefits thereof 163
Table 56: Applications in flexible and stretchable batteries, by materials type and benefits thereof 164
Table 57: Applications in flexible and stretchable supercapacitors, by nanomaterials type and benefits thereof 169
Table 58. Examples of materials used in flexible heaters and applications 170
Table 59: Applications in energy harvesting textiles, by nanomaterials type and benefits thereof 171
Table 60: Potential addressable market for thin film, flexible and printed batteries 176
Table 61. Applications for conductive inks in in-mold electronics 180
Table 62: Applications in flexible and stretchable circuit boards, by advanced materials type and benefits thereof... 183
Table 63: Price comparison of thin-film transistor (TFT) electronics technology 185
Table 64: Price comparison of thin-film transistor (TFT) electronics technology 188

List of Figures

Figure 1: Evolution of electronics 21
Figure 2: Wove Band 24
Figure 3: Wearable graphene medical sensor 24
Figure 4: Applications timeline for organic and printed electronics 25
Figure 5. Conductive ink products 29
Figure 6: Global market for conductive inks 2015-2030, revenues (million $), by ink types 35
Figure 7: Schematic of single-walled carbon nanotube 50
Figure 8: Stretchable SWNT memory and logic devices for wearable electronics 51
Figure 9: Stretchable carbon aerogel incorporating carbon nanotubes. Credit: Guo et al 53
Figure 10: Graphene layer structure schematic 59
Figure 11: Moxi flexible film developed for smartphone application 60
Figure 12: Flexible graphene touch screen 60
Figure 13: Graphene electrochromic devices. Top left: Exploded-view illustration of the graphene electrochromic device. The device is formed by attaching two graphene-coated PVC substrates face-to-face and filling the gap with a liquid ionic electrolyte 61
Figure 14: Flexible mobile phones with graphene transparent conductive film 62
Figure 15: BGT Materials graphene ink product 63
Figure 16: Silver nanocomposite ink after sintering and resin bonding of discrete electronic components 68
Figure 17: Flexible silver nanowire wearable mesh 70
Figure 18: Copper based inks on flexible substrate 75
Figure 19: Cellulose nanofiber films 82
Figure 20: Nanocellulose photoluminescent paper 82
Figure 21: LEDs shining on circuitry imprinted on a 5x5cm sheet of CNF 83
Figure 22: CNT stretchable Resin Film 97
Figure 23: Bending durability of Ag nanowires 101
Figure 24: NFC computer chip 102
Figure 25: NFC translucent diffuser schematic 103
Figure 26: Global transparent conductive electrodes market forecast by materials type, 2012-2030, millions $ 106
Figure 27: Softceptor sensor 108
Figure 28: Media Arm Controller 108
Figure 29: Flexible textile pressure sensor 109
Figure 30: Flexible sensor 110
Figure 31. Stretchable transistor 111
Figure 32. Artificial skin prototype for gesture recognition 113
Figure 33: Wearable gas sensor 115
Figure 34: Global market for wearable electronics, 2015-2030, by application, billions $ 118
Figure 35: Flexible RFID tag 123
Figure 36: Graphene printed antenna 125
Figure 37: Printed antennas for aircraft 125
Figure 38. Global market for conductive inks in RFID, 2015-2030 (millions USD) 126
Figure 39: Connected human body 128
Figure 40: Flexible, lightweight temperature sensor 128
Figure 41: Prototype ECG sensor patch 131
Figure 42: Graphene-based E-skin patch 132
Figure 43: Wearable bio-fluid monitoring system for monitoring of hydration 133
Figure 44: Smart mouth guard 134
Figure 45: Smart e-skin system comprising health-monitoring sensors, displays, and ultra flexible PLEDs 135
Figure 46: Graphene medical patch 135
Figure 47: Wearable wireless thermometer 136
Figure 48: Baby monitor 136
Figure 49: Nanowire skin hydration patch 137
Figure 50: Wearable sweat sensor 137
Figure 51: Wearable sweat sensor 138
Figure 52: Global medical and healthcare smart textiles and wearables market, 2015-2030, billions $, by product... 141
Figure 53: Global medical and healthcare smart textiles and wearables market, 2015-2030, billions $, by product... 141
Figure 55: Conductive yarns 152
Figure 56: Work out shirt incorporating ECG sensors, flexible lights and heating elements 155
Figure 57: Schematic illustration of the fabrication concept for textile-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) made by sewing textile electrodes onto cloth or paper 156
Figure 58: Global electronic textiles market 2015-2030, revenues (billions USD) 157
Figure 59 Global smart clothing, interactive fabrics and apparel sales by market segment 158
Figure 60: Energy harvesting textile 160
Figure 61: StretchSense Energy Harvesting Kit 160
Figure 62: Hexagonal battery 161
Figure 63: Printed Battery 164
Figure 64: Printed 1.5V battery 164
Figure 65. Schematic of the structure of stretchable LIBs, 165
Figure 66: Energy densities and specific energy of rechargeable batteries 169
Figure 67: Stretchable graphene supercapacitor 169
Figure 68. Origami-like silicon solar cells 173
Figure 69. Flexible printed heater 175
Figure 70: Demand for thin film, flexible and printed batteries, by market 177
Figure 71: Global thin film, flexible and printed batteries market 2015-2030, revenues (billions USD) 178
Figure 72: Stretchable material for formed an in-molded electronics 180
Figure 73: Wearable patch with a skin-compatible, pressure-sensitive adhesive 180
Figure 74: Thin film transistor incorporating CNTs 185
Figure 75: LG OLED flexible lighting panel 187
Figure 76: Flexible OLED incorporated into automotive headlight 187
Figure 77: Thin film transistor incorporating CNTs 188
Figure 78. Global market size of other electronics applications of conductive inks, 2015-2030 (billions USD)  192
Figure 79. Touchcode technology 264
Figure 80. Smart label 275