The Global Market for Conductive Inks to 2033

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Published November 2022 | 450 pages, 88 Figures, 76 tables | Download table of contents

The Global Market for Conductive Inks to 2033 is an in-depth analysis of a key technology for markets including solar photovoltaics and printed electronics. The current global market for conductive inks is valued at >$2.5 billion annually and will grow to around $5 billion by 2033, driven by growth in printed, flexible, stretchable & wearable electronics markets, and sub-sectors thereof. 

Conductive inks are infused with conductive materials which enable printing of electrically conductive surfaces. They are highly important for the fabrication of all forms of stretchable, flexible, and wearable electronic applications due to their role in connecting the various components of the devices. Conductive inks facilitate the production of

  • Flexible, stretchable and  self-healing electrical circuits.
  • Wearable electrodes.
  • TCFs in touch screen panels.
  • In-mold electronics (IME).
  • 3D electronics. 
  • Electronic skin patches.
  • Printed heaters for textiles, automotive and buildings. 
  • Range of printed sensors (bio, pressure, capacitive, strain).
  • RFID antennas and smart packaging. 
  • EMI shielding. 
  • Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE).
  • Solar photovoltaics. 

 

Report contents include:

  • Analysis of conductive ink types including:
    • Silver flake.
    • Silver nanoparticles.
    • Silver nanowires.
    • Particle-free conductive ink.
    • Copper ink.
    • Gold ink.
    • Carbon nanomaterial ink including carbon nanotubes and graphene.
    • Stretchable/thermoformable inks.
    • Conductive polymer inks.
    • Liquid metals. 
    • Siloxane.
    • Novel bio-based inks. 
  • Key markets and opportunities in conductive inks. 
  • Market trends and key challenges. 
  • Analysis of key players in conductive inks. 
  • Comparative analysis of conductive inks. 
  • Roadmaps and current commercial status for conductive inks, by type. 
  • End users market analysis including all applications and revenues. 
  • Pricing for conductive inks, by type. 
  • Global revenues by conductive ink types and end markets. Historical data and forecast to 2033. 
  • Profiles for companies, including company analysis, products and target markets. Companies profiled include C3Nano, Cambrios Advanced Materials, Copprint, Electroninks, Liquid X, SoFab Inks, LLC, UES, and Voltera. 

 

 

 

1              EXECUTIVE SUMMARY   24

  • 1.1          Printed electronics          24
  • 1.2          Role of conductive inks  24
  • 1.3          Markets and applications              25
  • 1.4          Market drivers  26
  • 1.5          The evolution of electronics        28
    • 1.5.1      The wearables revolution             29
    • 1.5.2      Development of electronic devices with flexible, thin, and large-area form factors              31
    • 1.5.3      Advanced conductive materials 34
    • 1.5.4      The evolution of conductive inks               38
  • 1.6          Global market for conductive inks 2015-2033, revenues 41
    • 1.6.1      By conductive ink type   41
    • 1.6.2      By conductive ink market             44
  • 1.7          Future outlook and market opportunities              47
  • 1.8          Market challenges           48

 

2              RESEARCH METHODOLOGY         50

 

3              CONDUCTIVE INKS          52

  • 3.1          Categorization   52
  • 3.2          Conductive materials      53
  • 3.3          Composition      56
    • 3.3.1      Aqueous-Based Ink         56
    • 3.3.2      Solvent-Based Ink            57
    • 3.3.3      Oil-Based Ink      57
    • 3.3.4      Hot-Melt Ink      57
    • 3.3.5      UV-Curable Ink 58
  • 3.4          Metal-based conductive inks      59
  • 3.5          Nanoparticle inks             60
  • 3.6          Silver inks            62
    • 3.6.1      Silver flake          64
      • 3.6.1.1   Properties           64
        • 3.6.1.1.1               Improving properties     65
    • 3.6.2      Silver nanoparticle ink    66
      • 3.6.2.1   Formulation       67
      • 3.6.2.2   Conductivity       67
    • 3.6.3      Prices for silver-based inks           70
      • 3.6.3.1   Cost for printed area      70
    • 3.6.4      Silver-based conductive ink producers    71
  • 3.7          Silver nanowires               74
    • 3.7.1      Technology description 74
    • 3.7.2      Properties           75
    • 3.7.3      Silver nanowire Transparent Conductive Films (TCFs)       75
    • 3.7.4      Transparent heaters       77
    • 3.7.5      Silver nanowires producers         78
  • 3.8          Particle-Free conductive ink        80
    • 3.8.1      Conductivity       80
    • 3.8.2      Properties           81
    • 3.8.3      Applications       82
    • 3.8.4      Particle-Free conductive ink producers   83
  • 3.9          Copper inks        87
    • 3.9.1      Properties           87
      • 3.9.1.1   Copper flake      88
  • 3.9.2      Silver-coated copper      89
  • 3.9.3      Prices    91
  • 3.9.4      Copper ink producers     91
  • 3.10        Gold (Au) ink      93
    • 3.10.1    Properties           93
  • 3.11        Carbon-based conductive inks    95
  • 3.12        Carbon nanotubes           96
    • 3.12.1    Properties           96
    • 3.12.2    Single-walled carbon nanotubes 98
    • 3.12.3    Prices    100
    • 3.12.4    Producers           102
  • 3.13        Graphene           105
    • 3.13.1    Properties           106
    • 3.13.2    Prices    113
    • 3.13.3    Companies         114
  • 3.14        Stretchable/thermoformable inks            118
    • 3.14.1    Technology description 118
    • 3.14.2    Properties           119
    • 3.14.3    Stretchable/thermoformable ink producers         120
  • 3.15        Conductive polymer inks               122
    • 3.15.1    Types    122
    • 3.15.2    Polythiophene conductive films 123
    • 3.15.3    Polyaniline (PANI)           124
    • 3.15.4    Polypyrrole (PPy)             124
    • 3.15.5    PDMS    124
    • 3.15.6    PEDOT: PSS         124
      • 3.15.6.1                Transparency     125
    • 3.15.7    Applications       126
  • 3.16        Liquid metals     128
    • 3.16.1    Properties           128
  • 3.17        Siloxane inks      130
    • 3.17.1    Properties           130
  • 3.18        Bio-based conductive inks            131

 

4              TECHNOLOGY READINESS LEVEL (TRL) FOR CONDUCTIVE INKS     132

 

5              PRINTING ELECTRONICS 134

  • 5.1          What are printed electronics?    134
  • 5.2          Substrates          137
  • 5.3          Analog printing processes for conductive inks      138
  • 5.4          Digital printing processes for conductive inks.     139
  • 5.5          Post-printing techniques              142
  • 5.6          Flexible electronics components               143
    • 5.6.1      Flexible substrates          145
  • 5.7          Stretchable electronics  146
  • 5.8          Advantages and disadvantages of printing techniques for the fabrication of flexible electronics     147
  • 5.9          Contact printing technology        149
    • 5.9.1      Screen printing  149
    • 5.9.2      Gravure               150
    • 5.9.3      Flexography       152
    • 5.9.4      Soft lithography 154
  • 5.10        Non-contact printing technology               154
    • 5.10.1    Laser direct-writing         155
    • 5.10.2    Aerosol printing 156
    • 5.10.3    Inkjet-printing   156
  • 5.11        Drawn-on-skin electronics           157
  • 5.12        Sintering methods           159
    • 5.12.1    Thermal sintering             159
    • 5.12.2    Photonic sintering            159
    • 5.12.3    Electrical sintering           160
    • 5.12.4    Plasma sintering               161
    • 5.12.5    Microwave         161

 

6              MARKETS FOR CONDUCTIVE INKS             162

  • 6.1          ELECTRONICS     162
    • 6.1.1      Market drivers and trends            162
    • 6.1.2      Recent developments    165
    • 6.1.3      Wearables          166
      • 6.1.3.1   Conductive Ink for Wearable Applications             166
    • 6.1.4      Wearable electrodes      168
    • 6.1.5      Smartwatches   170
      • 6.1.5.1   Recent innovations         170
      • 6.1.5.2   Health monitoring           171
      • 6.1.5.3   Main smart watch producers and products           171
    • 6.1.6      Sports and fitness trackers           172
      • 6.1.6.1   Wearable devices            173
      • 6.1.6.2   Skin patches       173
      • 6.1.6.3   Products              174
    • 6.1.7      Sleep trackers and wearable monitors    176
      • 6.1.7.1   Built in function in smart watches and fitness trackers     177
      • 6.1.7.2   Smart rings         178
      • 6.1.7.3   Headbands         179
      • 6.1.7.4   Patches 179
      • 6.1.7.5   Masks   180
    • 6.1.8      Smart glasses and head-mounted displays (VR, AR, MR, vision loss and eye trackers)         180
      • 6.1.8.1   Products              181
      • 6.1.8.2   Virtual Reality (VR) devices          185
      • 6.1.8.3   Augmented (AR) headsets and smart glasses       185
      • 6.1.8.4   Mixed Reality (MR) smart glasses              186
    • 6.1.9      Military wearable electronics      187
    • 6.1.10    Industrial and workplace monitoring       188
      • 6.1.10.1                Products              188
    • 6.1.11    Touch screen panels       190
    • 6.1.12    Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) 192
    • 6.1.13    In-mold electronics (IME)             193
    • 6.1.14    3D electronics   195
    • 6.1.15    Circuit prototyping          198
    • 6.1.16    Global market revenues 200
    • 6.1.17    Market challenges           201
  • 6.2          MEDICAL AND HEALTHCARE SENSORS & WEARABLES       202
    • 6.2.1      Market drivers  202
    • 6.2.2      Current state of the art  205
    • 6.2.3      Wearable medical device products           206
    • 6.2.4      Printed and flexible sensors        209
    • 6.2.5      Medical biosensors         210
    • 6.2.6      Wearable health monitoring and rehabilitation   212
      • 6.2.6.1   Companies and products              213
    • 6.2.7      Electronic skin (E-skin) patches  219
      • 6.2.7.1   Applications       220
      • 6.2.7.2   Nanomaterials-based devices     222
      • 6.2.7.3   Materials             224
    • 6.2.8      Wearable health alert and monitoring    225
      • 6.2.8.1   Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)   226
        • 6.2.8.1.1               Minimally-invasive CGM sensors               227
        • 6.2.8.1.2               Non-invasive CGM sensors          230
        • 6.2.8.1.3               Minimally-invasive and non-invasive glucose monitoring companies and products              232
      • 6.2.8.2   Cardiovascular   235
        • 6.2.8.2.1               ECG sensors       235
        • 6.2.8.2.2               Companies and products              236
      • 6.2.8.3   PPG sensors       238
        • 6.2.8.3.1               Companies and products              238
      • 6.2.8.4   Pregnancy and newborn monitoring        238
        • 6.2.8.4.1               Companies and products              238
      • 6.2.8.5   Wearable temperature monitoring          240
        • 6.2.8.5.1               Companies and products              241
      • 6.2.8.6   Hydration sensors           242
        • 6.2.8.6.1               Companies and products              242
      • 6.2.8.7   Wearable sweat sensors (medical and sports)     243
        • 6.2.8.7.1               Companies and products              245
    • 6.2.9      Smart footwear 246
      • 6.2.9.1   Companies and products              247
    • 6.2.10    Smart wound care           247
      • 6.2.10.1                Companies and products              249
    • 6.2.11    Global market revenues 251
    • 6.2.12    Market challenges           252
  • 6.3          E-TEXTILES          253
    • 6.3.1      Materials and components          253
      • 6.3.1.1   Conductive and stretchable yarns             254
      • 6.3.1.2   Conductive polymers     255
        • 6.3.1.2.1               PDMS    256
        • 6.3.1.2.2               PEDOT: PSS         257
      • 6.3.1.3   Conductive coatings        258
      • 6.3.1.4   Stretchable conductive inks in e-textiles 259
      • 6.3.1.5   Nanomaterials  259
        • 6.3.1.5.1               Graphene           261
        • 6.3.1.5.2               Carbon nanotubes           262
    • 6.3.2      Applications, markets and products         264
      • 6.3.2.1   Smart clothing products 265
      • 6.3.2.2   Temperature monitoring and regulation 267
        • 6.3.2.2.1               Heated clothing 267
      • 6.3.2.3   Stretchable E-fabrics       271
      • 6.3.2.4   Therapeutic products     272
      • 6.3.2.5   Sport & fitness  272
      • 6.3.2.6   Flexible and wearable display advertising              273
      • 6.3.2.7   Smart diapers    274
      • 6.3.2.8   Automotive interiors      275
    • 6.3.3      Global market revenues 276
    • 6.3.4      Market challenges           277
  • 6.4          SENSORS             279
    • 6.4.1      Printed sensors 279
    • 6.4.2      Capacitive sensors           280
    • 6.4.3      Pressure sensors              281
    • 6.4.4      Biosensors          282
    • 6.4.5      Strain sensors    283
    • 6.4.6      Global market revenues 286
  • 6.5          RFID       287
    • 6.5.1      Printed RFID antennas   287
    • 6.5.2      Smart packaging               288
    • 6.5.3      Global market revenues 290
  • 6.6          OTHER MARKETS              291
    • 6.6.1      Photovoltaics     291
    • 6.6.2      Printed heaters 293
    • 6.6.3      EMI shielding     295
    • 6.6.4      Conductive pens              296
    • 6.6.5      Other Printed antennas 297
    • 6.6.6      Global market revenues 299

 

7              CONDUCTIVE INK COMPANY PROFILES   301 (164 company profiles)

 

8              REFERENCES       427

 

List of Tables

  • Table 1: Market drivers for conductive inks.         26
  • Table 2. Types of wearable devices and applications.        30
  • Table 3. Advanced materials for Electronic textiles-Advantages and disadvantages.            35
  • Table 4. Sheet resistance (RS) and transparency (T) values for transparent conductive oxides and alternative materials for transparent conductive electrodes (TCE).       36
  • Table 5: Applications in conductive inks by type and benefits thereof.      38
  • Table 6. Global market for conductive inks 2017-2033, revenues (million $), by ink types. 43
  • Table 7. Global market for conductive inks 2017-2033, revenues (million $), by market.   44
  • Table 8. Market challenges in conductive ink.      48
  • Table 9. Typical conductive ink formulation.         52
  • Table 10. Comparative properties of conductive inks.       55
  • Table 11.  Comparison of pros and cons of various types of conductive ink compositions. 58
  • Table 12. Advantages and disadvantages of nanomaterials for conductive inks.    61
  • Table 13. Silver-based conductive ink producers.               71
  • Table 14. Silver nanowires producers.     78
  • Table 15. Comparison of properties of particle-free silver inks.     81
  • Table 16. Particle-Free conductive ink producers.              83
  • Table 17. Copper ink producers. 91
  • Table 18: Properties of CNTs and comparable materials. 96
  • Table 19. Applications of carbon nanotubes in conductive ink.     99
  • Table 20. Carbon nanotubes pricing (MWCNTS, SWCNT etc.) by producer.              100
  • Table 21: Carbon nanotube conductive ink producers.     102
  • Table 22. Properties of graphene.             105
  • Table 23. Chemical properties, advantages and issues of common solvents for graphene conductive inks. 108
  • Table 24. Market and applications for graphene in conductive inks.           110
  • Table 25. Graphene ink pricing by producer.        113
  • Table 26. Graphene conductive ink producers.    114
  • Table 27. Stretchable/thermoformable ink producers.     120
  • Table 28. Types of flexible conductive polymers, properties and applications.        125
  • Table 29. Comparison of the electrical conductivities of liquid metal with typical conductive inks. 128
  • Table 30. Specifications of various substrates employed in printed electronics (PE).            137
  • Table 31. Characteristics of analog printing processes for conductive inks.              138
  • Table 32. Characteristics of digital printing processes for conductive inks.               139
  • Table 33. Post printing techniques-advantages and limitations.    142
  • Table 34. Advantages and disadvantages of printing techniques for the fabrication of flexible electronics. 147
  • Table 35. Comparison of pros and cons of various types of conductive ink compositions.  148
  • Table 36. Types of photonic sintering.     160
  • Table 37. Market drivers and trends in wearable electronics.        163
  • Table 38. Wearable health monitors.       171
  • Table 39. Main smart watch producers and products.      171
  • Table 40. Wearable sensors for sports performance.        174
  • Table 41. Wearable sensor products for monitoring sport performance.  174
  • Table 42. Example wearable sleep tracker products and prices.    176
  • Table 43. Smart ring products.    178
  • Table 44. Sleep headband products.        179
  • Table 45. Smart sleep mask products.     180
  • Table 46. Smart glasses companies and products.              181
  • Table 47. VR headset products. 185
  • Table 48. Augmented reality (AR) smart glass products.  186
  • Table 49. Mixed Reality (MR) smart glass products.           187
  • Table 50. Wearable electronics applications in the military.           187
  • Table 51. Wearable workplace products.               188
  • Table 52. Market challenges for conductive inks in electronics.    201
  • Table 53. Market drivers for printed, flexible and stretchable medical and healthcare sensors and wearables.        203
  • Table 54. Examples of wearable medical device products.              206
  • Table 55. Medical wearable companies applying products to body temperature monitoring and analysis. 208
  • Table 56. Applications in flexible and stretchable health monitors, by advanced materials type and benefits thereof.                224
  • Table 57. Wearable bio-signal monitoring devices.            225
  • Table 58. Technologies for minimally-invasive and non-invasive glucose detection-advantages and disadvantages.                227
  • Table 59. Commercial devices for non-invasive glucose monitoring not released or withdrawn from market.          230
  • Table 60. Minimally-invasive and non-invasive glucose monitoring products.         232
  • Table 61. Companies developing wearable swear sensors.             245
  • Table 62. Companies and products in smart footwear.    247
  • Table 63. Companies and products in smart wound care.                249
  • Table 64. Market challenges in conductive inks in medical and healthcare sensors and wearables.               252
  • Table 65. Types of smart textiles.              253
  • Table 66. Types of flexible conductive polymers, properties and applications.        257
  • Table 67. Applications in textiles, by advanced materials type and benefits thereof.           259
  • Table 68. Applications and benefits of graphene in textiles and apparel.  261
  • Table 69. Properties of CNTs and comparable materials. 262
  • Table 70. Applications and markets for e-textiles.              264
  • Table 71. Commercially available smart clothing products.             265
  • Table 72. Electronic textiles products.     266
  • Table 73. Heated jacket and clothing products.   269
  • Table 74. Examples of materials used in flexible heaters and applications.               270
  • Table 75. Companies developing smart diaper products. 274
  • Table 76. Market and technical challenges in E-textiles and smart clothing.            277

 

List of Figures

  • Figure 1. Evolution of electronics.             29
  • Figure 2. Wove Band.     33
  • Figure 3. Wearable graphene medical sensor.     34
  • Figure 4. Conductive yarns.          35
  • Figure 5. Global market for conductive inks 2017-2023, revenues (million $), by ink types, conservative estimate. 42
  • Figure 6. Global market for conductive inks 2017-2033, revenues (million $), by market.  45
  • Figure 7. Types of conductive inks and applications.          53
  • Figure 8. Schematic of inkjet-printed processes. 56
  • Figure 9. Demand for silver in the printed & flexible electronics market.  63
  • Figure 10: Silver nanocomposite ink after sintering and resin bonding of discrete electronic components. 67
  • Figure 11. Schematic summary of the formulation of silver conductive inks.           67
  • Figure 12. Copper based inks on flexible substrate.           88
  • Figure 13: Schematic of single-walled carbon nanotube. 98
  • Figure 14. Stretchable SWNT memory and logic devices for wearable electronics.               99
  • Figure 15. Nanotube inks              103
  • Figure 16. Graphene layer structure schematic.  106
  • Figure 17. BGT Materials graphene ink product. 107
  • Figure 18. Applications of graphene in conductive inks.   112
  • Figure 19. BGT Materials graphene ink product. 114
  • Figure 20. Printed graphene conductive ink.         115
  • Figure 21. Textiles covered in conductive graphene ink.  115
  • Figure 22. Technology readiness level (TRL) for conductive ink applications.           133
  • Figure 23. Printed electronic devices for flexible, stretchable and wearable electronic applications.             135
  • Figure 24. Printing technologies for flexible electronic devices.    136
  • Figure 25. Flexible electronics R2R system.           143
  • Figure 26. Schematic of screen-printing process. 150
  • Figure 27. Schematic of gravure printing process.              151
  • Figure 28. Components of flexography printing techniques.          153
  • Figure 29. Major steps in soft lithography technologies.  154
  • Figure 30. Non-contact printing schematics.         155
  • Figure 31. Schematic of inkjet printing: (a) continuous inkjet system and (b) on-demand inkjet system.     157
  • Figure 32. Electrical sintering schematic. 161
  • Figure 33. Applications of wearable flexible sensors worn on various body parts. 166
  • Figure 34. Wearable bio-fluid monitoring system for monitoring of hydration.      173
  • Figure 35. Beddr SleepTuner.     180
  • Figure 36. Vuzix Blade.   185
  • Figure 37. NReal Light MR smart glasses.               186
  • Figure 38. Market for conductive inks in electronics, by applications.         200
  • Figure 39. Companies and products in wearable health monitoring and rehabilitation devices and products.           213
  • Figure 40. Smart e-skin system comprising health-monitoring sensors, displays, and ultra flexible PLEDs.  221
  • Figure 41. Examples of E-skin.     222
  • Figure 42. Graphene medical patch.         223
  • Figure 43. Graphene-based E-skin patch.               223
  • Figure 44. Technologies for minimally-invasive and non-invasive glucose detection.           227
  • Figure 45. Schematic of non-invasive CGM sensor.            231
  • Figure 46. Adhesive wearable CGM sensor.          232
  • Figure 47. VitalPatch.     236
  • Figure 48. Wearable ECG-textile.              236
  • Figure 49. Wearable ECG recorder.           237
  • Figure 50. Nexkin™.        238
  • Figure 51. Bloomlife.      239
  • Figure 52. Enfucell wearable temperature tag.    241
  • Figure 53. TempTraQ wearable wireless thermometer.   242
  • Figure 54. Nanowire skin hydration patch.             242
  • Figure 55. NIX sensors.  243
  • Figure 56. Wearable sweat sensor.           243
  • Figure 57. Wearable sweat sensor.           244
  • Figure 58. Gatorade's GX Sweat Patch.   245
  • Figure 59. Sweat sensor incorporated into face mask.      245
  • Figure 60. Lab-on-Skin™.              246
  • Figure 61. Digitsole Smartshoe. 247
  • Figure 62. Schematic of smart wound dressing.  248
  • Figure 63. REPAIR electronic patch concept. Image courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.    249
  • Figure 64. Market for conductive inks in medical and healthcare sensors & wearables.     251
  • Figure 65. Conductive yarns.       255
  • Figure 66. SEM image of cotton fibers with PEDOT:PSS coating.   256
  • Figure 67. EXO2 Stormwalker 2 Heated Jacket.    268
  • Figure 68. Flexible polymer-based heated glove, sock and slipper.              268
  • Figure 69. ThermaCell Rechargeable Heated Insoles.        269
  • Figure 70. Myant sleeve tracks biochemical indicators in sweat.  272
  • Figure 71. Flexible polymer-based therapeutic products. 272
  • Figure 72. iStimUweaR . 273
  • Figure 73. Basketball referee Royole fully flexible display.              274
  • Figure 74. ABENA Nova smart diaper.      274
  • Figure 75. Textile-based car seat heaters.              276
  • Figure 76. Market for conductive inks in E-textiles, by applications.            277
  • Figure 77. Market for conductive inks in sensors, by applications.               287
  • Figure 78. Smart packaging for detecting bacteria growth in milk containers.         289
  • Figure 79. RFID functions and applications of silver nanoparticle inks.       289
  • Figure 80. OHMEGA Conductive Ink + Touchcode box.     290
  • Figure 81. Market for conductive inks in RFID, by applications.     291
  • Figure 82. Textile-based car seat heaters.              294
  • Figure 83. Market for conductive inks in other markets, by applications.  299
  • Figure 84. Printed graphene biosensors. 308
  • Figure 85. Fuji carbon nanotube products.            337
  • Figure 86. CNT film.         387
  • Figure 87. Touchcode technology.            408
  • Figure 88. Talcoat graphene mixed with paint.     409

 

 

 

The Global Market for Conductive Inks to 2033
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