The global carbon nanotubes (CNT) market is growing at a significant rate, due to growing electronics industry, technological advancements, and high demand from current applications of CNT. Additionally, the growth of polymer industry, increasing importance of alternate sources of energy and superior properties of CNT is also supporting the growth of the global market. The increasing application areas with decrease in CNT prices and emerging economies are some of the factors providing ample growth opportunities for the global carbon nanotubes market. Some of the factors restraining the growth of the market are environmental concerns and health risks regarding usage of CNT, and high price and processing difficulties.
The importance of nanomaterial among the consumers is increasing, due to favorable regulatory support at domestic levels by the governments in Japan, the U.S., and countries of European Union. For enhancing the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of bulk products, carbon nanotubes are used as composite fiber in polymers. The increasing application scope in automotive and construction industries is supporting the growth of polymer production in emerging economies, such as Middle East, Brazil, India and China. Silicon is used for coating CNT and it is further used in the manufacturing of lithium ion batteries. CNT is used in the batteries to increase the efficiency of battery with more than 10 times. The increasing application of lithium ion battery in renewable energy storage and grid is supporting the growth of the global CNT market.
Among the various regions, Asia-Pacific led the market in 2014, and is also expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. This dominance is due to growing polymer industry in China and India. Additionally, the increasing electronics manufacturing in Japan and China is also supporting the growth of the Asia-Pacific market. North America also holds a significant share in the global market, due to robust production of engineered polymers, such as polyether ether ketone in the U.S. Additionally, the National Infrastructure Plan in Mexico is supporting the growth of electronics and energy sectors in the region, which is further supporting the growth of the carbon nanotubes market.
Among the products, the multi walled carbon nanotubes segment led the global market in 2014, due to high tensile strength of multi walled carbon nanotubes, in comparison to single walled carbon nanotubes. For increasing repellency towards airborne contamination and dissipating static electricity in engineered polymers, such as polyether ether ketone, polyether amide, and polycarbonate; multi walled CNT are increasingly being used. One of the major advantages of multi walled CNT over single walled CNT is high production cost related to single walled CNT. Among all the applications, the chemical and polymer segment led the global market in 2014 and is also expected to dominate in the coming years. The increasing applications of engineered polymers in automotive and construction industries is expected to support the dominance of chemical and polymer applications of CNT. The application of carbon nanotubes is also increasing in composites with a considerable rate, due to lightweight property of composites.
Some of the competitors in the global carbon nanotubes market are Hanwha Chemical Corporation, Nanocyl SA, Carbon Solutions Inc., Nanothinx S.A., Hyperion Catalysis International Inc., Cnano Technology Limited, SouthWest NanoTechnologies Inc., and Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd.
Global Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) Market Segmentation
By Product
- Single Walled CNT
- Multi Walled CNT
By Application
- Energy
- Chemical and Polymers
- Composites
- Medical Applications
- Batteries and Capacitors
- Others
By Geography
- North America
- Europe
- Asia-Pacific
- Rest of the World
