North America Aerogel Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Silica, Polymers), By End-use (Performance Coatings, Oil & Gas), By Form, By Technology, By Country, And Segment Forecasts, 2024 - 2030

North America Aerogel Market Size & Trends

The North America aerogel market size was estimated at USD 536.7 million in 2023 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.8% from 2024 to 2030. The market is growing since North America is the top producer of aerogel. The region is also seeing increasing demand from end-use industries including aerospace, building & construction, automotive, and oil & gas. The market in North America exhibits a huge growth potential in terms of application development, quality, and product innovation for aerogel market, whereas the demand is driven by its superior insulation and low thermal conductivity properties.

As of 2023, the U.S. became the top producer of oil & gas surpassing a production rate of 13 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, highest bpd for any country. This production is expected to increase the development of more durable aerogel blankets. Aerogels help in improving insulation for deep-sea pipe-in-pipe oil and gas pipelines by reducing the amount of steel in pipeline construction. Thus, reducing installation costs, improving pipeline compression resistance, and consequently increasing oil & gas flow.

The thermal insulation property of aerogel is boosting its demand across building & construction applications. The concerns associated with energy-saving and lowering CO2 emissions are rising worldwide. This is fueling the growth of global aerogel market, further propelling the market in North America. Furthermore, presence of key product manufacturers in the region is expected to aid the product growth in North America. Companies with headquarters and manufacturing facilities in the U.S., such as Aspen Aerogels, Inc., Cabot Corporation, and Aerogel Technologies, LLC, hold a majority of the market share. These companies are focused on various expansion strategies to increase their dominance in the region along with new product launches and expansion of existing production capacity for aerogels.

Market Concentration & Characteristics

The market is concentrated having few players with a strong presence in the region with huge investing power for the continuous development. High initial investment for the setup of advanced machinery and research and development facilities is required. Thus, the entry for new players is difficult and low.

Threat of substitute is moderate since the availability of alternative procedures like advanced vacuum insulation in the market particularly to avoid the use of high-cost products like aerogel.

Innovation is moderate in the market. Development of advanced aerogels with the help of waste materials like paper and rubber is being promoted to resolve the evolving problem of waste generation.

The impact of regulation is towards the safe disposal & handling of aerogels especially silica. Due to the concerns posed to human health, working with silica must follow several restrictions. When working with nanoparticles and their agglomerates. Even in its less toxic amorphous forms, like in silica-based aerogels and many silica NPs, cumulative exposure to inhalable silica poses a threat to worker's health.

Product Insights

Silica dominated the market segment with a revenue share of over 66% in 2023. Silica aerogels are non-organic structures, which are non-combustible and can bear heat up to 1,400⁰C. They have excellent heat endurance and thermal insulation properties. Thus, non-flammable blankets made of silica aerogels are expected to be very effective in reducing the spread of fire in the residential buildings, factories, and other infrastructures.

Polymers are expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 20.8% during the forecast period. The substantial growth is owing to their excellent chemical and physical benefits compared with silica aerogels. Polymer aerogels are used in defense applications, electronic substrates, building & construction applications, vehicle interiors, and antennas. Polymer aerogels, when developed in a monolithic form, are mechanically robust. They tend to drop a few advantages provided by silica aerogels, including transparency and low thermal conductivity.

Form Insights

Blanket dominated the form segment with the largest revenue share in 2023. Thermal insulation of buildings is one of the foremost measures to in order to improve energy efficiency. Aerogel blankets offer thermal insulation in buildings as well as apparel owing to their well-suited properties required in insulation such as high-breathability, water repellency, low-dusting & low-powdering, and light diffusion. An aerogel blanket’s profile is suitable for limited space, fragile components, and high-humidity settings on account of its thin, lightweight, and hydrophobic characteristics.

The panel form is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR of 20.3% during the forecast period. Aerogel panels are mostly made using nanotechnology and silica aerogel along with fiber. Characteristics such as ultra-low thermal conductivity, hydrophobicity, and ease of handling are boosting their growth in the market. These panels are used in various applications, including military equipment insulation, high and low temperature industrial furnaces, and insulation of boards in construction applications, owing to their properties such as water repellency, easy operation, low transportation costs, and inorganic waste management.

End-use Insights

Oil & gas dominated the segment with a revenue share of over 62% in 2023. Aerogel blankets are mostly used to improve the insulation of deep-sea pipes and oil & gas pipelines to reduce production cost, improve pipeline compression resistance, and reduce the amount of steel used in construction. Moreover, hydrophobicity, mechanical strength, and exceptional thermal performance are additional benefits offered by aerogel insulators.

The performance coatings segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Increasing demand for safety awareness and environmental measures toward coating formulators when compared to the conventional forms is driving the usage of aerogel-based products in coating industries. High mass-specific surface area and electrical conductivity, and environment-friendly are the characteristics of aerogel on account of which its incorporation is increasing in this segment.

Technology Insights

Supercritical drying dominated the technology segment with a revenue share of 71% in 2023. Supercritical drying of aerogels is considered the most important step during the aerogel production since it enables preservation of their three-dimensional pore structures. This leads to unique properties such as high porosity, low density, and large surface area of aerogels. Supercritical drying, which is defined as the extraction of solvents from pores of aerogels using supercritical fluids, is a popular method for drying wet gels.

The others segment of aerogel market includes ambient pressure drying with matrix strengthening technology and freeze-drying technology. These technologies are used for the production of various aerogels. They are used to remove liquid inside aerogels and replace it with air while preserving the original structure of aerogels. Ambient pressure drying with matrix strengthening technology is the process of drying wet gels by evaporating pore liquids at ambient pressures and temperatures ranging from room temperature to 2,000⁰C. Freeze-drying is another technology that can be used to dry wet gels. In this technology, solvents inside pores are frozen by lowering the temperature below the freezing point of solvents.

Country Insights

U.S. dominated the country segment with a revenue share of over 80% in 2023. The U.S. holds strong dominance in the aerogels market using to increased awareness among manufacturers regarding the benefits of aerogels as compared to other insulating material, presence of key players that are constantly working on research and development for improved aerogels along with support from government for funding the research. With the well-established aerospace, marine, automobiles, building and construction, performance coating, oil and natural gas industry in the U.S., the use of aerogels for these applications prevails in high volume.

The growth of North America aerogel market is expected to be sluggish in Mexico owing to the penetration of traditional insulating materials such as mineral wool, polyurethane foam, stone wool, and others. Thus, growth of aerogel market is expected to be higher in the U.S. and Canada as compared to Mexico.

Key North America Aerogel Companies Insights

The market is moderately competitive in nature owing to the presence of a few manufacturers in the region. It is highly influenced by the U.S. due to the presence of large market share holders with huge investing powers. Owing to the chemical and physical benefits of aerogel, the product is expected to remain in constant demand.  The key players are constantly investing in the development of aerogels using alternative eco-friendly methods such as using waste materials like paper and rubber.

North America Aerogel Market Report Scope  

North America Aerogel Market Report Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue growth at regional & country levels and provides an analysis of the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2018 to 2030. For this study, Grand View Research has segmented the North America aerogel market report based on product, form, end-use, technology, and country:

• Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • Silica

  • Polymers

  • Carbon

  • Others

• Form Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • Blanket

  • Particle

  • Panel

  • Monolith

• End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • Oil & Gas

  • Building & Construction

  • Automotive, Aerospace & Marine

  • Performance Coatings

  • Others

• Technology Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • Supercritical Drying

  • Others

• Country Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • U.S.

  • RoNA