A recent IDTechEx research predicts that the graphene market will reach nearly $200 million by 2026, with the estimation that the largest sectors will be composites, energy applications and graphene coatings.
Graphene inks are said to be constantly improving (while their prices seem to be dropping), which might promote, among others, applications like sensor electrodes and smart packaging. In the transparent conductive film industry, however, it is estimated that graphene will not be able to compete with ITO films.
In the supercapacitors field, the report states that major obstacles that graphene electrodes face, which need to be overcome in order to see greater market acceptance, are graphene stacking, poor surface utilisation and poor out-of-plane conductivity, suggesting that it might be difficult for graphene to replace activated carbon in this area.
The researchers noted that graphene additives for battery electrodes have already been launched. The additives reduce resistance in lithium ion batteries and are also able to reduce mechanical breakage in silicon anode batteries.
Graphene additives are also used to enhance the performance of composites, according to the report. The results are said to be promising for thermal composites.
Furthermore, the report says that a range of early stage applications are emerging that could result in graphene being used in sensors, water filtration membranes and anti-corrosion applications in the future.
In 2013, BCC Research released a similar graphene market report with an optimistic forecast of the global graphene product market reaching $195 million in 2018 and grow quickly to $1.3 billion by 2023. In 2014, Allied Market Research released a graphene market report in which they predicted that the global graphene market will grow to $149.1 million by 2020, a rather cautious prediction that is even more optimistic than Yole Developments' report from the same year, that estimated the graphene market at about $141 million in 2024. Lux Research recently published a grim report predicting that graphene is likely to resemble CNTs and fade into relative obscurity in the future.
A 2014 graphene market report by IDTechEx saw the graphene market (at the material level) growing from about $20 million in 2014 to over $390 million in 2024. This year's report seems to be much less positive, with a somewhat ominous drop to $200 million by 2026.