The global market for conductive ink

Published December 2021 | 333 pages, 75 tables, 86 figures | Table of contents

Conductive inks are mainly used in the printed electronics industry to produce printed circuits, organic light-emitting diodes, electrochemical sensors, energy storage devices, solar cells, radio-frequency identification tags, and battery test stripes.

The global market for conductive inks is estimated at >$3 billion in annual revenues, and will continue to grow as applications proliferate in sensors, wearables, smart packaging, flexible electronics, OLEDs, thin film transistors, photovoltaics, smart textiles, automotive and more.

Not only will demand across all current markets grow, but the development of new materials and processes is leading to the creation of new market opportunities for conductive ink producers and suppliers in flexible, customized and 3D printed electronics. Opportunities explored in this report include:

Flexible and stretchable electronics.
Printed electronics for smartphones (printed antennas, touch screens).
Printed circuit boards.
3D printing.
Smart packaging.
Photovoltaics.
Flexible lighting.
Flexible displays.
Wearables and IoT.
Healthcare wearable monitoting.
Smart textiles.

A large variety of conductive inks have been developed such as metal nanoparticle inks, metal precursor inks, carbon nanotube inks, graphene inks, conductive polymer inks etc. Copper and silver inks will continue to dominate the market for the next few years but growth in flexible electronics necessitates the development of new materials.

Report contents include:

Conductive inks market forecasts to 2031.
In depth assessment of conductive ink types including properties, advantages, disadvantages, prospects, applications and revenues.
Opportunity assessment by application and market including photovoltaics, touch screens, flexible displays, automotive, 3D printing, sensors, printed circuit boards, electronic textiles and wearables, RFID, printed memory and transistors, printed heaters, conductive pens etc.
142 company profiles. Companies profiled include Agfa-Gevaert N.V., Asahi Kasei, Bando Chemical Industries, BotFactory, Daicel Corporation, DuPont Advanced Materials, Electroninks, Fujikura Kasei Co Ltd., Genes 'Ink, Henkel, Hitachi Chemical, Kishu Giken Kogyo Co.,Ltd., Liquid X Printed Metals, Inc., Sun Chemical, T-Ink, Toyobo etc.

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 22

1.1 Printed electronics 22
1.2 Role of conductive inks 22
1.3 Markets and applications 22
1.4 Market drivers 24
1.5 The evolution of electronics 25
- 1.5.1 The wearables revolution 26
- 1.5.2 Printed and flexible electronics 28
- 1.5.3 New conductive materials 31
- 1.5.4 Conductive inks 34
1.6 Global market for conductive inks 2015-2031 37

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 39

3 CONDUCTIVE INKS 40

3.1 Categorization 40
3.2 Conductive materials 40
3.3 Composition 42
- 3.3.1 Aqueous-Based Ink 42
- 3.3.2 Solvent-Based Ink 43
- 3.3.3 Oil-Based Ink 44
- 3.3.4 Hot-Melt Ink 44
- 3.3.5 UV-Curable Ink 44
3.4 Metal-based conductive inks 46
- 3.4.1 Nanoparticle ink 47
- 3.4.2 Silver inks 47
  - 3.4.2.1 Silver flake 49
  - 3.4.2.2 Silver nanoparticle ink 50
    - 3.4.2.2.1 Formulation 51
    - 3.4.2.2.2 Conductivity 51
  - 3.4.2.3 Particle-Free silver conductive ink 52
  - 3.4.2.4 Prices 52
    - 3.4.2.4.1 Cost for printed area 53
- 3.4.3 Copper inks 53
  - 3.4.3.1 Properties 53
  - 3.4.3.2 Silver-coated copper 55
  - 3.4.3.3 Prices 55
- 3.4.4 Gold (Au) ink 55
  - 3.4.4.1 Properties 55
3.5 Carbon-based conductive inks 56
- 3.5.1 Carbon nanotubes 56
  - 3.5.1.1 Properties 56
  - 3.5.1.2 Single-walled carbon nanotubes 58
  - 3.5.1.3 Prices 60
  - 3.5.1.4 Companies 61
- 3.5.2 Graphene 64
  - 3.5.2.1 Properties 66
  - 3.5.2.2 Prices 71
  - 3.5.2.3 Companies 71
3.6 Polymer conductive inks 74
- 3.6.1 Types 74
- 3.6.2 Polyaniline (PANI) 74
- 3.6.3 Polypyrrole (PPy) 75
- 3.6.4 PDMS 75
- 3.6.5 PEDOT: PSS 75
  - 3.6.5.1 Transparency 76
3.7 Liquid metals 77
- 3.7.1 Properties 77
3.8 Nanocellulose 78
- 3.8.1 Properties 78
- 3.8.2 Applications 80
  - 3.8.2.1 Cellulose nanofibers in conductive inks 81
3.9 Siloxane inks 82
- 3.9.1.1 Properties 82
3.10 Bio-based conductive inks 82

4 PRINTING ELECTRONICS 83

4.1 What are printed electronics? 83
4.2 Substrates 85
4.3 Analog printing processes for conductive inks 86
4.4 Digital printing processes for conductive inks. 87
4.5 Advantages and disadvantages of printing techniques for the fabrication of flexible electronics 89
4.6 Contact printing technology 91
- 4.6.1 Screen printing 91
- 4.6.2 Gravure 92
- 4.6.3 Flexography 94
- 4.6.4 Soft lithography 96
4.7 Non-contact printing technology 96
- 4.7.1 Laser direct-writing 97
- 4.7.2 Aerosol printing 98
- 4.7.3 Inkjet-printing 98
4.8 Drawn-on-skin electronics 99
4.9 Sintering methods 101
- 4.9.1 Thermal sintering 101
- 4.9.2 Photonic sintering 101
- 4.9.3 Electrical sintering 102
- 4.9.4 Plasma sintering 103
- 4.9.5 Microwave 103

5 MARKETS FOR CONDUCTIVE INKS 104

5.1 WEARABLE ELECTRONICS 104
- 5.1.1 Market drivers and trends 104
- 5.1.2 Recent developments 107
- 5.1.3 Wearables 108
  - 5.1.3.1 Conductive Ink for Wearable Applications 108
- 5.1.4 Smartwatches 109
  - 5.1.4.1 Recent innovations 109
  - 5.1.4.2 Health monitoring 109
  - 5.1.4.3 Main smart watch producers and products 109
- 5.1.5 Sports and fitness trackers 111
  - 5.1.5.1 Wearable devices 111
  - 5.1.5.2 Skin patches 111
  - 5.1.5.3 Products 113
- 5.1.6 Sleep trackers and wearable monitors 115
  - 5.1.6.1 Built in function in smart watches and fitness trackers 115
  - 5.1.6.2 Smart rings 116
  - 5.1.6.3 Headbands 117
  - 5.1.6.4 Patches 117
  - 5.1.6.5 Masks 118
- 5.1.7 Smart glasses and head-mounted displays (VR, AR, MR, vision loss and eye trackers) 118
  - 5.1.7.1 Products 119
  - 5.1.7.2 Virtual Reality (VR) devices 123
  - 5.1.7.3 Augmented (AR) headsets and smart glasses 123
  - 5.1.7.4 Mixed Reality (MR) smart glasses 124
- 5.1.8 Military wearable electronics 125
- 5.1.9 Industrial and workplace monitoring 126
  - 5.1.9.1 Products 126
- 5.1.10 Touch screen panels 126
- 5.1.11 Global market size 127
  - 5.1.11.1 By product type, 2015-2031, billions USD 128
  - 5.1.11.2 Global market for hearables to 2031, by product type, billions USD 130
  - 5.1.11.3 Market share by product type 131
- 5.1.12 Market challenges 132
5.2 MEDICAL AND HEALTHCARE SENSORS & WEARABLES 133
- 5.2.1 Market drivers 133
- 5.2.2 Current state of the art 136
- 5.2.3 Wearable medical device products 136
- 5.2.4 Wearable health monitoring and rehabilitation 139
  - 5.2.4.1 Companies and products 140
- 5.2.5 Electronic skin (E-skin) patches 146
  - 5.2.5.1 Applications 146
  - 5.2.5.2 Nanomaterials-based devices 148
  - 5.2.5.3 Materials 150
- 5.2.6 Wearable health alert and monitoring 151
  - 5.2.6.1 Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) 152
    - 5.2.6.1.1 Minimally-invasive CGM sensors 153
    - 5.2.6.1.2 Non-invasive CGM sensors 156
    - 5.2.6.1.3 Minimally-invasive and non-invasive glucose monitoring companies and products 158
  - 5.2.6.2 Cardiovascular 161
    - 5.2.6.2.1 ECG sensors 161
    - 5.2.6.2.2 Companies and products 162
  - 5.2.6.3 PPG sensors 164
    - 5.2.6.3.1 Companies and products 164
  - 5.2.6.4 Pregnancy and newborn monitoring 164
    - 5.2.6.4.1 Companies and products 164
  - 5.2.6.5 Wearable temperature monitoring 166
    - 5.2.6.5.1 Companies and products 167
  - 5.2.6.6 Hydration sensors 168
    - 5.2.6.6.1 Companies and products 168
  - 5.2.6.7 Wearable sweat sensors (medical and sports) 169
    - 5.2.6.7.1 Companies and products 171
- 5.2.7 Smart footwear 172
  - 5.2.7.1 Companies and products 173
- 5.2.8 Smart wound care 173
  - 5.2.8.1 Companies and products 175
- 5.2.9 Global market size 177
  - 5.2.9.1 By product type, 2015-2031, billions USD 177
  - 5.2.9.2 Market share, by product type 179
- 5.2.10 Market challenges 180
5.3 ELECTRONIC TEXTILES (E-TEXTILES) 181
- 5.3.1 Materials and components 181
  - 5.3.1.1 Conductive and stretchable yarns 182
  - 5.3.1.2 Conductive polymers 183
    - 5.3.1.2.1 PDMS 184
    - 5.3.1.2.2 PEDOT: PSS 185
  - 5.3.1.3 Conductive coatings 186
  - 5.3.1.4 Stretchable conductive inks in e-textiles 187
  - 5.3.1.5 Nanomaterials 187
    - 5.3.1.5.1 Graphene 189
    - 5.3.1.5.2 Carbon nanotubes 190
- 5.3.2 Applications, markets and products 192
  - 5.3.2.1 Smart clothing products 193
  - 5.3.2.2 Temperature monitoring and regulation 195
    - 5.3.2.2.1 Heated clothing 195
  - 5.3.2.3 Stretchable E-fabrics 199
  - 5.3.2.4 Therapeutic products 199
  - 5.3.2.5 Sport & fitness 200
  - 5.3.2.6 Flexible and wearable display advertising 201
  - 5.3.2.7 Smart diapers 201
  - 5.3.2.8 Automotive interiors 203
- 5.3.3 Global market size 204
- 5.3.4 Market challenges 206
5.4 OTHER MARKETS 208
- 5.4.1 Seat heaters 208
- 5.4.2 Conductive pens 208
- 5.4.3 Smart packaging 209
  - 5.4.3.1 RFID antennas 209

6 CONDUCTIVE INK COMPANY PROFILES 211 (142 profiles)

7 REFERENCES 311

List of Tables

Table 1: Market drivers for conductive inks. 24
Table 2. Types of wearable devices and applications. 27
Table 3. Advanced materials for Electronic textiles-Advantages and disadvantages. 32
Table 4. Sheet resistance (RS) and transparency (T) values for transparent conductive oxides and alternative materials for transparent conductive electrodes (TCE). 33
Table 5: Applications in conductive inks by type and benefits thereof. 34
Table 6. Global market for conductive inks 2017-2027, revenues (million $), by ink types, conservative estimate. 38
Table 7. Typical conductive ink formulation. 40
Table 8. Comparative properties of conductive inks. 42
Table 9. Comparison of pros and cons of various types of conductive ink compositions. 44
Table 10: Properties of CNTs and comparable materials. 56
Table 11. Applications of carbon nanotubes in conductive ink. 59
Table 12. Carbon nanotubes pricing (MWCNTS, SWCNT etc.) by producer. 60
Table 13: Carbon nanotube conductive ink producers. 61
Table 14. Properties of graphene. 64
Table 15. Electrical conductivity of different types of graphene. 67
Table 16. Market and applications for graphene in conductive inks. 68
Table 17. Graphene ink pricing by producer. 71
Table 18. Graphene conductive ink producers. 71
Table 19. Types of flexible conductive polymers, properties and applications. 76
Table 20. Comparison of the electrical conductivities of liquid metal with typical conductive inks. 77
Table 21. Nanocellulose properties. 78
Table 22. Properties and applications of nanocellulose 79
Table 23. Properties of flexible electronics‐cellulose nanofiber film (nanopaper). 80
Table 24. Specifications of various substrates employed in printed electronics (PE). 85
Table 25. Characteristics of analog printing processes for conductive inks. 86
Table 26. Characteristics of digital printing processes for conductive inks. 87
Table 27. Advantages and disadvantages of printing techniques for the fabrication of flexible electronics. 89
Table 28. Comparison of pros and cons of various types of conductive ink compositions. 90
Table 29. Types of photonic sintering. 102
Table 30. Market drivers and trends in wearable electronics. 104
Table 31. Wearable health monitors. 109
Table 32. Main smart watch producers and products. 109
Table 33. Wearable sensors for sports performance. 112
Table 34. Wearable sensor products for monitoring sport performance. 113
Table 35. Example wearable sleep tracker products and prices. 115
Table 36. Smart ring products. 116
Table 37. Sleep headband products. 117
Table 38. Smart sleep mask products. 118
Table 39. Smart glasses companies and products. 119
Table 40. VR headset products. 123
Table 41. Augmented reality (AR) smart glass products. 124
Table 42. Mixed Reality (MR) smart glass products. 125
Table 43. Wearable electronics applications in the military. 125
Table 44. Wearable workplace products. 126
Table 45. Global market for wearable electronics, 2015-2031, by product type, billions $. 129
Table 46. Market challenges in wearable electronics. 132
Table 47. Market drivers for printed, flexible and stretchable medical and healthcare sensors and wearables. 133
Table 48. Examples of wearable medical device products. 136
Table 49. Medical wearable companies applying products to body temperature monitoring and analysis. 139
Table 50. Applications in flexible and stretchable health monitors, by advanced materials type and benefits thereof. 150
Table 51. Wearable bio-signal monitoring devices. 151
Table 52. Technologies for minimally-invasive and non-invasive glucose detection-advantages and disadvantages. 153
Table 53. Commercial devices for non-invasive glucose monitoring not released or withdrawn from market. 156
Table 54. Minimally-invasive and non-invasive glucose monitoring products. 158
Table 55. Companies developing wearable swear sensors. 171
Table 56. Companies and products in smart footwear. 173
Table 57. Companies and products in smart wound care. 175
Table 58. Global medical and healthcare wearables market, 2017-2031, billions $, by product. 178
Table 59. Market challenges in medical and healthcare sensors and wearables. 180
Table 60. Types of smart textiles. 181
Table 61. Types of flexible conductive polymers, properties and applications. 185
Table 62. Applications in textiles, by advanced materials type and benefits thereof. 187
Table 63. Applications and benefits of graphene in textiles and apparel. 189
Table 64. Properties of CNTs and comparable materials. 190
Table 65. Applications and markets for e-textiles. 192
Table 66. Commercially available smart clothing products. 193
Table 67. Electronic textiles products. 194
Table 68. Heated jacket and clothing products. 197
Table 69. Examples of materials used in flexible heaters and applications. 198
Table 70. Companies developing smart diaper products. 201
Table 71. Global electronic textiles and smart clothing market 2017-2031, revenues (billions USD). 204
Table 72. Market and technical challenges in E-textiles and smart clothing. 206

List of Figures

Figure 1. Evolution of electronics. 26
Figure 2. Wove Band. 29
Figure 3. Wearable graphene medical sensor. 30
Figure 4. Conductive yarns. 31
Figure 5. Global market for conductive inks 2017-2027, revenues (million $), by ink types, conservative estimate. 38
Figure 6. Schematic of inkjet-printed processes. 43
Figure 7. Demand for silver in the printed & flexible electronics market. 49
Figure 8: Silver nanocomposite ink after sintering and resin bonding of discrete electronic components. 51
Figure 9. Schematic summary of the formulation of silver conductive inks. 51
Figure 10. Copper based inks on flexible substrate. 54
Figure 11: Schematic of single-walled carbon nanotube. 58
Figure 12. Stretchable SWNT memory and logic devices for wearable electronics. 59
Figure 13. Nanotube inks 63
Figure 14. Graphene layer structure schematic. 65
Figure 15. BGT Materials graphene ink product. 66
Figure 16. Applications of graphene in conductive inks. 70
Figure 17. BGT Materials graphene ink product. 72
Figure 18. Printed graphene conductive ink. 73
Figure 19. Textiles covered in conductive graphene ink. 73
Figure 20. Cellulose nanofiber films. 80
Figure 21. Nanocellulose photoluminescent paper. 81
Figure 22. LEDs shining on circuitry imprinted on a 5x5cm sheet of CNF. 81
Figure 23. Printing technologies for flexible electronic devices. 84
Figure 24. Schematic of screen-printing process. 92
Figure 25. Schematic of gravure printing process. 93
Figure 26. Components of flexography printing techniques. 95
Figure 27. Major steps in soft lithography technologies. 96
Figure 28. Non-contact printing schematics. 97
Figure 29. Schematic of inkjet printing: (a) continuous inkjet system and (b) on-demand inkjet system. 99
Figure 30. Electrical sintering schematic. 103
Figure 31. Applications of wearable flexible sensors worn on various body parts. 108
Figure 32. Wearable bio-fluid monitoring system for monitoring of hydration. 112
Figure 33. Beddr SleepTuner. 118
Figure 34. Vuzix Blade. 123
Figure 35. NReal Light MR smart glasses. 124
Figure 36. Global market for wearables, 2015-2031, by product type, billions US$. 128
Figure 37. Global market for hearables, 2017-2031, by product type, billions US$. 130
Figure 38. Global market for wearables, 2020-2031, by market share of product type 131
Figure 39. Companies and products in wearable health monitoring and rehabilitation devices and products. 140
Figure 40. Smart e-skin system comprising health-monitoring sensors, displays, and ultra flexible PLEDs. 147
Figure 41. Examples of E-skin. 148
Figure 42. Graphene medical patch. 149
Figure 43. Graphene-based E-skin patch. 149
Figure 44. Technologies for minimally-invasive and non-invasive glucose detection. 153
Figure 45. Schematic of non-invasive CGM sensor. 157
Figure 46. Adhesive wearable CGM sensor. 158
Figure 47. VitalPatch. 162
Figure 48. Wearable ECG-textile. 162
Figure 49. Wearable ECG recorder. 163
Figure 50. Nexkin™. 164
Figure 51. Bloomlife. 165
Figure 52. Enfucell wearable temperature tag. 167
Figure 53. TempTraQ wearable wireless thermometer. 168
Figure 54. Nanowire skin hydration patch. 168
Figure 55. NIX sensors. 169
Figure 56. Wearable sweat sensor. 169
Figure 57. Wearable sweat sensor. 170
Figure 58. Gatorade's GX Sweat Patch. 171
Figure 59. Sweat sensor incorporated into face mask. 171
Figure 60. Lab-on-Skin™. 172
Figure 61. Digitsole Smartshoe. 173
Figure 62. Schematic of smart wound dressing. 174
Figure 63. REPAIR electronic patch concept. Image courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 175
Figure 64. Global medical and healthcare wearables market, 2017-2031, billions $, by product. 177
Figure 65. Global market for medical and healthcare sensors and wearables, 2020-2031, by market share of product type. 179
Figure 66. Conductive yarns. 183
Figure 67. SEM image of cotton fibers with PEDOT:PSS coating. 184
Figure 68. EXO2 Stormwalker 2 Heated Jacket. 196
Figure 69. Flexible polymer-based heated glove, sock and slipper. 196
Figure 70. ThermaCell Rechargeable Heated Insoles. 197
Figure 71. Myant sleeve tracks biochemical indicators in sweat. 199
Figure 72. Flexible polymer-based therapeutic products. 200
Figure 73. iStimUweaR . 200
Figure 74. Basketball referee Royole fully flexible display. 201
Figure 75. ABENA Nova smart diaper. 202
Figure 76. Textile-based car seat heaters. 203
Figure 77. Global electronic textiles and smart clothing market 2017-2031, revenues (billions USD). 205
Figure 78. Textile-based car seat heaters. 208
Figure 79. Smart packaging for detecting bacteria growth in milk containers. 209
Figure 80. RFID functions and applications of silver nanoparticle inks. 210
Figure 81. Printed graphene biosensors. 216
Figure 82. Fuji carbon nanotube products. 241
Figure 83. CNT film. 281
Figure 84. Touchcode technology. 296
Figure 85. Talcoat graphene mixed with paint. 298

The Global Market for Conductive Inks 2021-2031

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Published December 2021 | 333 pages, 75 tables, 86 figures | Table of contents

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 22

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 39

3 CONDUCTIVE INKS 40

4 PRINTING ELECTRONICS 83

5 MARKETS FOR CONDUCTIVE INKS 104

6 CONDUCTIVE INK COMPANY PROFILES 211 (142 profiles)

7 REFERENCES 311

List of Tables

List of Figures

Payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Alipay, Paypal.

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