Nanofibers are fibers which have a diameter less than 100 nanometers. A Nanofiber is breathable and it is so small in size that it doesn’t allow any bacteria to enter. It is commonly used in the textile industry and it is the main driver for this sector. There are several processes to manufacture the product such as electrostatic spinning, interfacial polymerization, induced polymer precipitation, and electrospinning. There are several factors driving the growth of the market such as catalysts, optical waveguides, sensors, composites, tissue repair, electronics industry, mining, filtration, transportation, military and construction industries. With the development of all these industries, the product is expected to experience significant growth over the next eight years. The product can balance relatively better between evaporation of the solvent, flexibility and adhesion. The growth of the market is also supported by the strong government investments and initiatives in nanotechnology in countries such as India, China, South Korea and Taiwan. The product has a wide range of properties such as electrical and optical quality, high porosity and high strength making, which can be used in food and packaging, air filtration, environmental and health and personal care applications. Carbon nanofibers are expected to gain popularity in the global market.
Nanofibers market can be segmented into two types which include carbon nanofibers and polyaniline nanofibers. Carbon nanofibers are the most commonly used nanofibers in the market and it is expected that it will have significant growth over the next eight years. This is a result of their increasing penetration in several applications such as oil spill remediation, composite materials, electrode materials and field electron emission sources. Polyaniline is one of the oldest nanofibers. The common applications of polyaniline nanofibers are monolithic actuators, digital memory devices, and chemical sensing applications.
The product is commonly applied across all the industries such as nonwoven consumer products, healthcare, filtration, energy, and textiles and catalytic. Filtration was among the largest applications on account of increase in use in air, water and gas filters. The product has the ability to facilitate highest flow rate and can trap various impurities. They are also used in the automobile industry and healthcare industry. In the healthcare sector, it can be applied in drug delivery, wound care and tissue engineering. It can also be used for tissue replacement from a patient’s cell. In the chemical sector it is expected to increase its penetration owing to its superior chemical properties which will be followed by energy and other sectors. This will lead to significant growth of the industry over the next eight years.
However, there are several restraints in the impacting expansion such as higher toxicity, restraints in food & packaging industry. Higher toxicity is expected to hinder the growth of the product. There are regulations in Europe which hinders the use of the product in the food & packaging industry. Regionally the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and rest of the world (ROW). North America was the largest and dominated the industry on the basis of consumption in the bio-medical industry. North America was followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. U.S. is presently the leading in research & development followed by emerging economies such as South Korea, China, and India. Consumption of the product is expected to increase significantly owing to its growing applications over the next eight years.
Key players in the industry include Nanofiber Solutions, SNS Nanofibers Technology, Japan Vilene Co., Toray Industries, Clearbridge Nanomedics, Hemcon Medical Technologies, Finetex Technology, C-Polymers GmbH, Teijin Fibers Ltd., Ahlstrom Corp., US Global Nanospace, Pyrograph Products Inc., Irema-Filter GmbH, Mitsubishi Rayon Ltd., Toray Industries Inc., Grupo Antolin, Catalytic Materials LLC, Catalytic Materials LLC, Catalytic Materials LLC, Biomers, Espin Technologies Inc., Hollingsworth & Vose Co., Johns Manville, Metpro Corp., Hills Inc., DuPont, Shenzhen Nanotech Port Co., Esfil Techno AS, Donaldson Co. Inc., FibeRio Technology Corp., Kertak Nanotechnologies S. R. O., Donaldson, Asahi Kasei Fibers and Future Carbon GmbH.
Companies are engaged in new product developments, innovation, agreements, collaborations, mergers & acquisitions and strategic business activities to strengthen their market and increase distribution networks globally. This industry is expected to be highly competitive over the forecast period on account of incorporation of new processes and product developments.
