Market Segmentation
Isosorbide is a sustainable, plant-based monomer with a low carbon footprint (of the order of 0.09 CO2/kg) and significant application potential. Substituting conventional petrochemical ingredients with isosorbide reduces the environmental pollution and enhances the performance of industrial polymers. For instance, isosorbide is an effective substitute for Bisphenol-A (BPA) for manufacturing polymers. BPA is a monomer with a carbon footprint six times higher than isosorbide. There is a growing demand to replace petrochemicals and plastics with sustainable and environment-friendly materials. Biphenol, BPA, and styrene, which are essential monomers for the synthesis of engineering plastics and super engineering plastics (SEP), are petroleum-based raw ingredients that may be detrimental to human health.
High-performance, sustainable, and effectively performing bioplastics can be a solution to environmental challenges posed by large volumes of plastics used in different applications at present. However, the development of new generation of sustainable materials that are viable alternatives to plastics derived from petroleum can be technologically challenging as these new materials require to match the performance and cost-effectiveness of commonly used petro-plastics. Moreover, REACH compliance, non-carcinogenic, non-toxic, and food contact suitability attributes of isosorbide, along with it being a non-endocrine disruptor and suitable for use in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics fuel the global demand for isosorbide. The ability of isosorbide to ensure the high performance of new materials such as bioplastics and biopolymers while eliminating the environmental burden associated with the utilization of existing materials such as conventional plastics is anticipated to contribute to the global demand for isosorbide over the forecast period.
The commercialization of numerous materials generated from step-growth methods of isosorbide has proven the potential of isosorbide-based polymers in the global market. For instance, approximately 30% of total isosorbide produced was used in the formulation of poly (ethylene-co-isosorbide) terephthalate. Moreover, Mitsubishi Chemical has developed an isosorbide-based copolycarbonate (Durabio) for usage in electronic displays and automobile parts as this product outperforms its BPA-containing equivalent in terms of physical properties. As a result, the demand for isosorbide-based polymers is anticipated to increase over the forecast period for use in a range of applications. They are expected to be used as antifogging materials, flame retardants, aerosol canisters, and polyester nanofibers in automobiles.
Isosorbide-based polymers are increasingly being used as biomedical engineering materials for cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation owing to their biodegradability and biocompatibility. Additionally, the cytocompatibility of isosorbide-based polymers, along with their good mechanical properties, lead to their increased usage in bone regeneration scaffolds in biomedical applications.
Despite increasing government regulations related to the use of bioplastics for daily household and commercial use and increasing consumer preference for renewable materials, the development of biopolymer-based products has always been a challenge for manufacturers owing to variations in costs, purity, quality, and other such parameters of biopolymer based products. Similarly, the major reasons limiting the large-scale commercialization of isosorbide across the world are its high production costs, along with the corrosive hazard caused by it to the reaction vessel owing to the presence of liquid acids in the manufacturing of isosorbide. As a result, there is a requirement for innovative technologies to produce isosorbide that is both, sustainable and efficient. The current homogeneously catalyzed process for manufacturing isosorbide can be replaced with heterogeneously catalyzed processes. The textural features of heterogeneous catalysts are important for effective and selective sorbitol dehydration toward isosorbide. Additionally, switching from a batch to a continuous-flow process fuels the productivity of isosorbide with no diffusion limits as the continuous-flow process is based on different reaction conditions, including temperature, residence duration, and pressure. Moreover, with the increased usage of sustainable materials in cosmetics, automobiles, etc., isosorbide manufacturers are expanding their production capacities and using technologically advanced processes to meet this increasing demand for isosorbide from different end users.
This section will provide insights into the contents included in this isosorbide market report and help gain clarity on the structure of the report to assist readers in navigating smoothly.
Industry overview
Industry trends
Market drivers and restraints
Market size
Growth prospects
Porter’s analysis
PESTEL analysis
Key market opportunities prioritized
Competitive landscape
Company overview
Financial performance
Product benchmarking
Latest strategic developments
Market size, estimates, and forecast from 2018 to 2030
Market estimates and forecast for product segments up to 2030
Regional market size and forecast for product segments up to 2030
Market estimates and forecast for application segments up to 2030
Regional market size and forecast for application segments up to 2030
Company financial performance