Nanotubes Market - Forecasts from 2024 to 2029

The nanotubes market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.82% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

The market for nanotubes is expected to expand in the coming years with its increasing application in multiple domains with properties like electrical resistivity, superconductivity, superhydrophobicity, and high thermal stability. These materials find application in the renewable energy sectors. These materials can be utilized in photovoltaic cells, lithium-ion batteries, engineered polymers, drug delivery, fuel cells, biosensors, chemical sensors, etc.

The European Union has expanded its solar capacity from 204.09 GW in 2022 to 259.99 GW in 2023, showing a jump of 21.50% and anticipated to reach 600 GW by 2030. This increased capacity demands battery storage devices, mainly domestic capacity. It would grow substantially in the upcoming years. This led to an increase in the nanotube material in the manufacturing of solar photovoltaics.

NANOTUBES MARKET DRIVERS:

• Advancements in carbon nanotechnology

In April 2023, NEC Corporation developed the world's first high-sensitivity uncooled infrared image sensor using high-purity semiconducting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the infrared detection area. This new knowledge expanded the use of carbon nanotube technology. The company will work on the practical application of this image sensor in 2025. Infrared uses the rays into electrical signals to acquire necessary information, which can be utilized in the night vision of the aircraft navigation support systems and security cameras.

Further, in April 2022, Kanematsu invested in CARBON FLY, an emerging company. Carbon nanotubes ("CNTs") have physical (mechanical, electrical, and thermal) and chemical properties that make them likable in many industries. Such as tensile strength 100 times greater than steel, Young's modulus five times greater than steel, and a density about one-half that of aluminum, etc. Further, CARBON FLY is making progress in the industrial applications of this material, in aerospace equipment, automobiles, medical devices and related systems, and state-of-the-art sporting equipment. These developments in the carbon nanotube are a significant factor in drawing more applications and attention to this material in the upcoming time.

• Increase in demand for renewable energy sources

Different types of nanotubes find applications in the various types of industrial applications including the renewable energy sector. They are used in energy storage and conversion applications because of their extraordinary properties. With the growing use of the renewable energy sector the use of the nanotube would also expand, nanotube hybrids used in the batteries increase the number of electrons produced.

In the year 2023, the United States saw 54% of new solar electric generation capacity. 5.6% is the annual generation by solar power. According to U.S. Census data, 55.6 GWdc of modules and 3.7 GWdc of cells were imported in 2023. These data suggest the growing application of solar power in day-to-day practical usage and its demand from ordinary households. The development of this solar power capacity needed many raw materials including nanotubes finding application in the manufacturing process.

• Expanding demand from the electronic and semiconductor industry

Nanotubes are used as the conductive agents for Lithium-ion batteries, which require antistatic and electromagnetic interference control. The growing use of lithium-ion batteries, in electronic devices, electrical devices, electrical vehicles, personal digital assistants, smartphones, laptops, watches, etc. Mobile phones have been the most common form of internet access device and use lithium-ion batteries.

The percentage of individuals owning a mobile phone in Asia Pacific was 75%, 82% in Arab States, and 93% high in Europe in the year 2023, according to ITU (International Telecommunication Union). The companies are advancing in improving technologies for the batteries and increasing their capacity for better performance by using nanotubes.

According to the IEA (International Energy Agency), the demand for EV batteries will be 750 GWh in 2023, which is 40% up from 2022. This rising number of EV batteries has contributed to the increasing nanotube demand for the application in manufacturing.

• Asia Pacific region to dominate the nanotubes market during the forecast period.

The major economies like China, Japan, India, and South Korea dominate the Asia-Pacific region. Some of the fastest-growing emerging economies are from this region such as ASEAN countries. The government initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana in India launched in January 2024, have the plan to put solar power on rooftops in 10 million households, which would need the batteries in the setup too, which would overall drive the market. Further, in the year 2023, India's electronics sector has domestic production accounted for 65% of the US$155 Bn of the total market value.

Moreover, China is the largest market for new electric vehicles, around the world. The government in China has made stringent regulations and policies for the transport climate policy. Now China has been playing a leadership role in global transport climate policy. Due to those policies electric cars have become cheaper and more affordable. The share of electric cars sold in the country for the year 2023, was over 35%, up from 29% in 2022. The need for the nanotube would increase in the market for various industrial and manufacturing applications in lithium-ion battery production for various applications.

Nanotubes market challenges:

• The scale of production has been a major challenge for the industrial players as there are several challenges like removing impurities from the materials at a large scale. Thus creating cost complications for the nanotube. The cost of manufacturing of the nanotube materials rises.

Nanotubes Market Key Developments:

• In January 2024, The scientists of Rice University finds a new way to rid boron nitride nanotubes of impurities. The researchers can remove impurities in boron nitride nanotubes using phosphoric acid and fine-tuning the reaction by this new method.
• In October 2023, Birla Carbon announced the acquisition of Nanocyl SA. Nanocyl SA is a company manufacturing multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) based in Sambreville, Belgium. This acquisition would put Birla Carbon in the leadership position in the energy systems market. This is needed for the material critical to Lithium Ion battery performance along with other conductive applications. Birla Carbon nurturing several innovative opportunities for long-term applications. Nanocyl brings a range of solutions for conductive applications.
• In September 2023, OCSiAl, announced to creation of the nanotube production facility near Belgrade, Serbia. This plant will be launched in 2024 with a planned annual capacity of 120 tonnes per year. This would facilitate logistics and lower supply chain costs. With the manufacturing of the nanotubes, the facility will manufacture nanotube suspensions for lithium-ion batteries. This would be enough to enhance the production capacity of the 1 million electric cars with an average battery capacity of 75 kWh per car. OCSiAl nanotubes can create electrical networks between active material particles, improving key battery characteristics. These graphene nanotubes have new battery technologies, including high-silicon content anodes, thick LFP cathodes, fast-charging graphite anodes, etc. It can be applied to the dry battery electrode coating process and solid-state batteries.
• In December 2022, Canatu and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed the contract for the development of the optical blocking filter using a unique carbon nanotube (CNT) for its applicability to the ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics) telescope. The optical blocking filter is made to let X-rays pass through blocking out other wavelengths, for precise imaging of celestial objects. Canatu developed a fully CNT-based X-ray filter with a new CNT support structure for higher transmittance at X-ray compared to metal mesh.

The nanotubes market is segmented and analyzed as follows:

By End User Industry

• Electronics & Semiconductor
• Energy Storage
• Structural Composites
• Renewable Energy
• Others Industries

By Type

• BCN nanotube
• Boron nitride nanotube
• Carbon nanotube
• Gallium nitride nanotube
• Others (DNA nanotube, Non-carbon nanotube, Titanium nanotubes)

By Geography

• North America
• USA
• Canada
• Mexico
• South America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Rest of South America
• Europe
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Spain
• Rest of Europe
• Middle East and Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• UAE
• Rest of the Middle East and Africa
• Asia Pacific
• China
• India
• Japan
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Indonesia
• Rest of Asia-Pacific