Aerogels 2021-2031: Technologies, Markets and Players

This market report provides the most comprehensive and authoritative view of the global aerogel market, giving detailed ten-year market forecasts segmented by application and both material type and form. IDTechEx has been studying the aerogel industry for many years; our technical experts conduct an extensive number of primary interviews to bring the reader a granular and detailed assessment of this industry.

 

IDTechEx research values the aerogel market at under $300 million and forecasts it to exceed $700 million by 2031 for the manufacturers. The current value is far more modest than many expect; this demonstrates that the industry is still largely in its infancy and can only be considered mature for specific applications.

 

The growth is being driven in 3 key ways. Firstly, the capacity expansions of silica aerogel blankets predominantly from Chinese manufacturers. Secondly, the diversifying applications for silica aerogel products driven by regulation changes and thermal management requirements in evolving markets. Finally, the commercial impact of manufacturing developments and new aerogel materials, such as polymer variants, are beginning to be realised.

 

The industry still suffers from misinformation and a large amount of hype surrounding the properties and proposed applications for this class of material. To date, the high price-tag and property limitations have meant that the unique properties aerogels possess have only been extensively used by a few industries. Aerogels have been known for nearly a hundred years but significant and sustained commercial activity only really began in the 21^st century. The market leaders, Aspen Aerogel, have lost over $350 million across the past decade, which alongside others, has in part enabled this market to finally come of age and allow for a more diverse, profitable market to be on the cusp of emerging.

 

This report provides a detailed assessment of all the aerogel manufacturers, including their capacity, revenue, products, production processes, planned expansions, and more. A comprehensive patent analysis is conducted in the report, which looks at key assignees and applications; this is all the more relevant given the recent lawsuits over patent infringements between leading players Aspen Aerogels, Nano Tech, and Alison Hi-Tech.

 

This report details and benchmarks studies on all the different types and forms of pure and composite aerogel products. The most prevalent of this is silica aerogel, with the key property being very low thermal conductivity (λ = 15-25 mW/m.K); the commercial applications to date centre almost exclusively around silica blankets and panels for their use in thermal insulation. However, given the abundance and cost of traditional insulators, manufacturers have been unable to justify the high price on the superior insulating properties alone. Instead, they have looked to the added value of the properties these multi-functional materials possess, be it fire retardancy, low density, hydrophobicity, strength or electrical/acoustic insulation. Silica particles (granules and powders) are gaining an increasing amount of interest either integrated into blankets and sheets post-production or used as fillers in a range of liquid or solid products including coatings, daylighting panels, and building material. Cabot Corporation has remained as the key player in these high-performance particles for over two-decades and continues to have its material implemented into new markets. Alongside this is the rise of the lower cost powders, led by the likes of JIOS Aerogel, that are in the process of gaining some market traction.

 

As seen in the image above, oil & gas is the main end-use application in which - for specific refinery and pipeline applications - aerogel blankets have become the standard material of choice. This continues to evolve with LNG presenting a key market opportunity, but ultimately the aerogel industry must diversify beyond this sector considering both a very long-term view and to not be heavily impacted by macro-economic trends on this one sector. There are many exciting areas for silica aerogels including building & construction, thermal runaway mitigation in electric vehicle battery packs, municipal engineering, packaging, apparel, and even electronic devices. For many, these legislations will have a large impact, most notably in energy consumption, emissions, and fire safety - particularly within the building and transportation sector.

 

IDTechEx has identified organic aerogels, notably polymer panels and films, as a rapidly emerging area of commercial activity. Although silica monoliths are the most photographed, their brittleness makes them have practically no commercial applications. Polymer variants have very different mechanical properties, taking the industry in many new directions. Many of the promising players are establishing notable production capacities and there is already significant interest from large end-users across a range of sectors for their use in antennas to interiors for transportation. Carbon aerogels have been known for a longer time but are again seeing lots of market activity and technology developments (such as graphene aerogels) showing the most promise for energy storage applications.

 

The aerogel tree below shows the range of materials that have been explored by the aerogel community and will be outlined in the report.

 

Finally, the report looks further into the future, describing the cutting-edge applications and manufacturing techniques. Pricing forecasts are provided for all different types and are predicted to undergo significant shifts as increased capacities and emerging manufacturing processes are anticipated. The report extensively compares and discusses batch and continuous manufacturing processes for both supercritical drying, freeze drying, and ambient pressure drying techniques. This is with consideration to both established methods, start-up companies, and relevant academic or industrial research. There remains a constant interest in new materials, utilising renewable or recycled feedstocks, and ambitious manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has, of course, impacted the aerogel production, supply chain, and markets. IDTechEx assesses this current and long-term impact throughout the market report.

 

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