Business Consultancy Project
Literature Review
Nanotechnology is among the fastest-growing technologies globally, and the technology is considered one of the most significant innovations of the 21st century. Today many research and development techniques have been applied globally to come up with safer and better nanomaterials. The increasing demand for flexible, lightweight, and renewable materials with the capacity to offer durability has the potential to continue driving the global market (Kaur and Jeet, 2017, p.728). The expansion in electronics and semiconductor energy, composite and automotive industries globally is seen as a significant factor in enhancing the increased production demands. Today this technology has been adopted in various fields like engineering, construction industries, biomedical, food, and agriculture. With this technology still in its infancy stages, it is widely expected that it can drastically transform modern science and people’s overall lifestyles across the globe (Kaur and Jeet, 2017, p.730). Nanoplexus Ltd. is one of the companies operating in the Nanotechnology industry. It is a start-up company orientated around developing innovative material platforms that leverage their patent-pending Graphene and 2D material-based aerogels for novel catalysts, composites, and energy systems. This literature review seeks to establish the Industries, market size, volume, structure, and entry barriers. Moreover, it will also explore the ethical consideration that Nanoplexus Ltd. develops various products for the marketplace.
Market Size
As of 2019, the global market size for nanomaterials was estimated at USD 8.5 billion, and this growth is projected to compound at an annual (CAGR) rate of 13.1% between 2020 and 2027 (ltd, 2021). The growth in this industry will likely be propelled by the fact that the technology is increasingly becoming widely accepted in different industries, which is likely to raise the demand for more flexible, lightweight, and renewable materials with the capacity to offer durability. Additionally, increased nanotechnology research combined with rising government spending towards Graphene and 2D materials is expected to argue this growth (ltd, 2021).
Today Graphene and 2D material are going through a hype curve, and with the increased commercialization of these products, steady progress is being made towards increasing the current graphene market (ltd, 2021). One of the key drivers in graphene and 2D materials growth in market size has been increasing industry experience. Initially, Graphene was only marketed as a wonder material that would one day revolutionize every industry. With time, this reality has set, and today graphene platelets are now increasingly being seen as a part of an expansive continuum of emerging carbon additive materials (ltd, 2021).
Market Volume
The market volume of graphene and 2D materials market size has been growing steadily due to increasing these materials’ availability. Today graphene materials have diverse and useful properties, which have led to diverse application pipelines. Most of these target applications are from volume markets, which imply that suppliers had gambled on taking higher risks to invest in a large production line when the demand for these materials was still small and uncertain (Yahoo Finance, 2020). Additionally, today China has also become a major territory for nominal production capacity. Its rise in stature in this industry has led to direct exfoliation and increased market volume in its production capacity (Yahoo Finance, 2020).
Graphene and 2D materials industry market volume is also experiencing huge growth due to increasing volume sales and revenue. Since 2013, income at graphene company levels has been growing steadily (Yahoo Finance, 2020). This rise, which appears across the board, is expected to continue until 2023 at similar rates when an inflection point is expected to occur and set the market on a rapid volume growth-phase (Yahoo Finance, 2020). Although the industry has been experiencing market volume, analysts suggest that as a whole, it has been making losses, although several profit-making companies have been in existence. These developments are expected to change very soon, given that past experiences demonstrated that most new materials often take years or decades before they can become commercially viable (Yahoo Finance, 2020). Graphene and 2D materials are no exception, and this behaviour is a natural aspect of the growth process expected in this industry.
2021-2031 Assessment of Graphene Market and 2D Materials Market Volume
Retrieved from (Collins, 2021)
The above diagram demonstrates the projected 2021-2031 assessment of the graphene market and 2D materials market volume. The above forecast projects that the graphene market and 2D materials market volume is expected to rise from less than $100m in 2020 to more than $700m before 2031 (Collins, 2021). Graphene is an additive material; it implies that it will be found in different types and large volume applications within a few years to come. However, this progress is only expected to come after a sustained period of advanced research and commercialization.
Finally, Graphene and 2D materials’ increasing affordability has also been behind the expected increase in the industries market volume. Like the CNTs, graphene platelets and powders have been mainly substituting materials that provide an iterative improvement over graphite, carbon black, or other additives (Collins, 2021). This implies that it has to compete on performance and prices with other incumbent solutions. Like most new specialty materials, it suffered from divergent and high pricing strategies and prices (Collins, 2021). This factor has contributed to the overall fall in graphene platelet prices, but this trend has changed in the recent past. However, this price is not expected to settle around a single or stagnant price, demonstrating the diverse nature of Graphene. In the near-term or next decade, analysts expect that graphene manufacturers are expected to increase significantly (Collins, 2021).
Market Structure
In the next decade, graphene nanoparticles are projected to experience the fastest growth expanding at a CAGR of 14.6%, a factor that can be attributed to the material’s rising demand for huge applications within energy, biomedical and environmental science (Collins, 2021). Graphene and 2D materials’ global market structure demonstrates a stable growth of indicators based on enlarging spheres associated with industrial applications. Several segments stand out in the structure of Graphene and 2D materials, and they include; electrical and electronics industry, aerospace and transportation, packaging, healthcare, and energy storage, among others (Collins, 2021). These industries present the greatest potential of applying Graphene and 2D materials in their diverse applications. In particular, it is expected that the electronic market will consume the largest portion of this Graphene and 2D materials market share with about 30% (Collins, 2021). Aerospace is also another fast-growing sector that will likely increase its usage of Graphene and 2D materials, particularly in the coating during aircraft manufacturing.
Market Barriers
Production scalability remains the most challenging market barrier in the Graphene and 2D materials industry. Although Graphene and 2D materials have an outstanding functional performance in their prototype or laboratory stages, production scalability remains a key barrier hindering the Graphene and 2D materials market size growth (Boholm, and Larsson, 2019, p.21). However, significant future developments like miniaturization that don’t compromise on specific products’ efficiency should allow for profitable commercialization within the aerospace, automotive, and other industries (Boholm, and Larsson, 2019, p.21).
Graphene happens to be the pioneer 2D material to hit the market, and it opens a floodgate for more than 350 companies to produce similar or related products (Boholm, and Larsson, 2019, p.21). Today the material has become composite with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties, batteries, sensors, and detectors. The next generation of products like flexible devices, neural interfaces, solar cells, and supercapacitors is expected to arise within the following years, as envisioned by the initial graphene flagship. However, despite these developments, lab-to-fab transition tends to lag behind expectations given their slow commercial uptake (Boholm, and Larsson, 2019, p.21). This is a huge challenge that is likely to be a major barrier affecting the industry in years to come. However, industry stakeholders and academia continue to try hard to develop scalable and reproducible techniques that allow for the synthesis of the 2D materials and characterization, integration, and processing of various applications (Boholm, and Larsson, 2019, p.21).
Finally, device performance and intrinsic properties of 2D materials can be extremely sensitive to any structural disorder generated during processing or synthesis. These developments imply that reproducing these products on a large scale cannot be achieved without undertaking structural control from a nanoscale (Boholm, and Larsson, 2019, p.21). Although fabrication techniques for cleaner devices and encapsulation strategies have been developed, bring with it tremendous performance improvements, a lot of work is required to establish any remaining unknown sources of disorders, reduce extrinsic and intrinsic disorders that will allow for the scaling up of these techniques (Boholm, and Larsson, 2019, p.21).
Ethical Considerations
Societal and ethical issues on justice risk benefits and safety are established topics within the Graphene and 2D materials industry discourse. The general understanding is that Graphene and the 2D materials industry’s innovations should be ethically and socially responsible (Zhu and Lin, 2015, p.21). Policymakers, regulators, manufacturers, and other key stakeholders in the industry conceptualize this concept. Responsible development of Graphene and 2D materials to protect human health, safety, and environment and ensure that this new technology is beneficial to society requires community members’ involvement and dialog. The primary objective of promoting public inclusion or deliberation implies that there should be broad consolations between stakeholders and the community concerning legal and ethical issues associated with the use of Graphene and 2D materials (Zhu and Lin, 2015, p.21). Based on this understanding, public participation and dialog remain an important aspect of the key values related to innovation, with such activities being reliant on information exchange or understanding the right messaging.
Due to numerous security concerns, consumers of products made from Graphene and the 2D materials industry should be given adequate information regarding the presence of any nano ingredients in a specific product. In other words, warning phrases have to be placed on all products that pose certain risks to the target market (Iavicoli, Leso, Ricciardi, Hodson, and Hoover, 2014, p.13). The Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks also considers such warnings as ethical considerations necessary to distinguish the characteristics of every Graphene and 2D material that is likely to pose a danger to human health the environment. Based on these considerations, all ingredients present within specific products where nearly half the fragments or particles are within the 1-100 nm range has to be preceded by a prefix “nano.” (Iavicoli, Leso, Ricciardi, Hodson, and Hoover, 2014, p.13). This is a requirement that has also been established in the European Parliament.
Several actions will have to be taken from the preceding to ensure that this project is conducted ethically. First, the project will seek to protect human health, safety, and the environment and ensure that this new technology is beneficial to society. This objective will be achieved by encouraging public participation and dialog. Adopting this ensures a broad consolation between stakeholders and the community concerning legal and ethical issues associated with the project. As such, the project will be able to protect human health, safety, and the environment.
Another key ethical consideration that will be made involves placing warning phrases or signs on all products that pose certain risks to the target market. Adopting this ethical consideration will ensure that anyone who comes across Nanoplexus Ltd products that are likely to pose any health issues or any other risk will have enough information to make a wise decision on whether to go ahead to purchase or not.
References
Boholm, Å. and Larsson, S., 2019. What is the problem? A literature review on challenges facing the communication of nanotechnology to the public. Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 21(4).
BSI, 2018. Developing a UK Standards Strategy for Graphene. [online] Bsigroup.com. Available at:
Elsevier, 2013. Powder coatings market for automotive, electronics, architectural and industrial applications – global industry analysis, size, share, growth, trends and forecast, 2012-2018. Focus on Powder Coatings, 2013(6), p.8.
Iavicoli, I., Leso, V., Ricciardi, W., Hodson, L. and Hoover, M., 2014. Opportunities and challenges of nanotechnology in the green economy. Environmental Health, 13(1).
Kaur, K. and Jeet, K., 2017. Electrical conductivity of water- based nanofluids prepared with graphene – carbon nanotube hybrid. Fullerenes, Nanotubes and Carbon Nanostructures, 25(12), pp.726-734.
Collins C, 2021. Graphene Market Size, Share, Growth, Forecast | 2020 – 2025. [online] Market Data Forecast. Available at:
Palaniselvam, T. and Baek, J., 2015. Graphene based 2D-materials for supercapacitors. 2D Materials, 2(3), p.032002.
Ribeiro-Soares, J. and Dresselhaus, M., 2013. News and Views: Perspectives on Graphene and Other 2D Materials Research and Technology Investments. Brazilian Journal of Physics, 44(2-3), pp.278-282.
Yahoo Finance, 2020. Global Graphene and 2D Materials Market Report 2021-2031 with In-Depth Profiles of 286 Graphene Producers and Application/Product Developers. [online] Finance.yahoo.com. Available at:
Zhu, C., Du, D. and Lin, Y., 2015. Graphene and graphene-like 2D materials for optical biosensing and bioimaging: a review. 2D Materials, 2(3), p.032004.
