NanoMarkets Releases Report on Emerging Nanosilver Materials Markets, Sees $1.2 Billion Market by 2016

GLEN ALLEN, Va., Aug. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Industry analyst firm NanoMarkets is announcing the release of its latent report on industrial silver markets, "Nanosilver Markets – 2011." NanoMarkets estimates that the total market for nanosilver materials and coating products is valued at about $290 million in 2011, and that it will to grow over the forecast period to about $1.2 billion by 2016.  Additional details about the report are available at www.nanomarkets.net.  The report will begin shipping on August 17, 2011.

From the Report:

The most obvious factor affecting commercialization of nanosilver is the persistently high commodity price of silver that will not likely decline any time soon.  While this situation can have a cooling effect on growth in some nanosilver markets, especially in traditional electronics applications employing silver, we believe that it may actually help others to emerge.

In the electronics sector, the gap between cost-in-use of conventional silver materials and nanosilver has narrowed significantly, and this may encourage some customers to finally make the switch to higher performance nanosilver technologies.  We have identified significant opportunities for penetration in emerging printed electronics employing either ink-jet or high-speed printing, both of which are particularly compatible with nanosilver, and in fabrication of PVs, where the need to reduce precious metal contents is giving some nanosilver inks and pastes a real chance to succeed. However, NanoMarkets believes that major business development work will be required to convince potential customers to change their processes; it will be important to demonstrate tangible cost-in-use benefits in addition to performance improvements.

Other markets, namely the antimicrobial and transparent conductor markets, are largely unaffected by high silver prices.  Nanosilver-based transparent conductors, which are now reported to have performance levels meeting or exceeding ITO, use very low levels of actual metal, so high silver prices are simply not a factor.  And while the value of this market based on the nanosilver content alone is not particularly impressive, the value based on the finished good – the transparent ink or coating technology – is quite high even with very modest overall penetration.

Similarly, antimicrobial applications for nanosilver will succeed or fail based on performance and market-pull, and since these are applications where nanosilver is not trying to replace conventional silver or other, less expensive materials, high silver commodity prices have minimal impact.  Furthermore, the addressable market for antimicrobial nanosilver applications – the most promising of which are value-added consumer goods from a wide variety of markets and end-uses – is very large, so modest growth rates are expected to lead to significant revenues over the next decade.

About the report:

This report analyzes the opportunities for various nanosilver materials in several relevant markets including nanosilver pastes and conductive adhesives; nanosilver inks for both ink-jet and other printing methods; nanosilver materials used in the fabrication of antimicrobial consumer goods or medical products; nanosilver-based transparent conductors; and nanosilver materials for industrial oxidation catalysts. The report also discusses the strategies of some of the leading suppliers of nanosilver materials and technologies and includes a detailed eight-year forecast for all of the applications and material types both in volume and value terms.

About NanoMarkets:

NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging market opportunities in energy, electronics and other markets created by developments in advanced materials. The firm is a recognized leader in industry analysis and forecasts for the silver inks business and has been covering this market for more than four years.  Visit www.nanomarkets.net for a full listing of NanoMarkets' reports and other services.

SOURCE NanoMarkets