The Top of the Material Chain - Advanced Coatings to Critical Minerals

From materials that withstand extreme temperatures, to pristine graphene sheets and high-value critical materials, IDTechEx's portfolio of Advanced Materials & Critical Minerals Research Reports and Subscriptions includes deep dives into advanced coatings, graphene, and critical material recovery.

 

 

IDTechEx covers several advanced coatings used within numerous sectors to enable higher performance, increase lifetimes, and reduce maintenance. The report, "Advanced Coatings 2026-2036: Market, Technologies, Players", covers coatings used across sectors from aerospace, energy, EV batteries, and data centers to ensure products can meet requirements as sustainability and efficiency trends become increasingly prevalent.

 

With the current market for coatings standing at around US$202 billion, Germany, China, and the US are the largest exporters. The drivers for advanced coatings are emerging from an increase in demand from markets with new requirements such as lighter weight and the ability to tolerate extreme temperatures, such as in aerospace. Through achieving these properties with the use of advanced coatings, products can also achieve greater energy efficiency and performance. Advanced coatings can also include more sustainable materials, with non-harmful coatings being developed as a result of changing environmental regulations and consumer demand.

 

IDTechEx's report contains some of the main challenges across multiple markets that advanced coatings could help to solve. Fire safety within EV batteries, aerospace, and data centers, as well as reduced maintenance across wind energy, oil and gas, and construction sectors, are listed as some of the main benefits of advanced coatings.

 

Manufacturing ease, coating performance, and sustainability are named as three desirable properties for advanced coatings, with trade-offs amongst them often necessary depending on application requirements. Long shelf life, short cure times, and low viscosity for ease of application are some of the main sought after properties, as well as being lighter, thinner, and free from PFAS chemicals and heavy metals. However, achieving these will also likely be determined on a case-by-case basis, as performance cannot always be sacrificed for sustainability goals.

 

 

Amongst the wider group of advanced materials, graphene, particularly in single layer sheets, is notably favored for many applications. Graphene is a 2D nanocarbon renowned for its strength, high thermal conductivity, impermeability to gases, low electrical resistivity, and transparency. The material is most commonly used within applications such as thermal management, additives, concrete and asphalt, conductive inks, sensors, and membranes, with its properties being utilized and desired across many sectors.

 

Graphene sheets must be pristine and carefully transferred from a growth site directly onto an application for the best results, meaning there are some challenges in actually harnessing all of graphene's superior qualities without causing disruption.

 

As far as the next generation of graphene is concerned, higher performing materials may be on the horizon, including genuine monolayer or bilayer pristine graphene additives. In addition, increasing the functionality of graphene could be a different kind of target for many companies, while from a production perspective, IDTechEx reports other companies working with green or waste feedstocks for more efficient and sustainable manufacturing processes. Other feedstocks could include coke and methane, while end-of-life lithium-ion batteries may also be a source of obtaining graphene.

 

Carbon black and carbon nanotubes are amongst the main competitors for graphene, however, there are still a large number of companies within the graphene space. IDTechEx's report, "Graphene & 2D Materials 2026-2036: Technologies, Markets, Players", predicts the graphene market to break through a valuation of US$1 billion by 2032, and continue strong growth throughout the coming decade.

 

 

Critical materials are characterized by their simultaneous economic importance and supply risk, with the term including all types of materials, from elements and metals to composites. Some of the main factors at play with regards to a material's supply risk could be anything from trade restrictions to a reliance on imports, while in the current global political climate, tensions are creating difficulties in accessing materials. Economic importance refers to how reliant key sectors are on specific materials and is therefore indicative of their demand.

 

Extraction and recovery are two approaches to sourcing critical materials from secondary sources, such as end-of-life equipment with a certain concentration or volume of a material within it. Feasibility of recovery is also a factor to consider in these processes. IDTechEx's report, "Critical Material Recovery 2026-2046: Technologies, Markets, Players", covers many of the main extraction and recovery approaches. Extraction technologies include hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, electro-leaching, and many others, while the list of recovery technologies includes solvent extraction and ion exchange, to biosorption and electro-winning.

 

Platinum group metals recovered from automotive emission control are described by IDTechEx to be one established secondary source for critical material recovery, while emerging sources include lithium-ion batteries and rare-earth magnets from electric vehicles. Methodologies for critical material extraction are also evaluated in IDTechEx's report, with multiple factors considered from scalability and technology readiness to waste-source versatility, energy usage, and circularity, highlighting a sustainability focus.

 

For more information on the vast landscape of advanced materials, visit IDTechEx's portfolio of Advanced Materials & Critical Minerals Research Reports and Subscriptions for the latest research into sectors including advanced coatings, graphene, and critical material recovery.