Smart Polymers Market Analysis By Stimulus Type (Physical, Chemical, Biological), By Application (Biomedical & Biotechnology, Automotive, Textile, Electrical & Electronics, Textile, Nuclear Energy) And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

Industry Insights

The global smart polymers market size was USD 2.79 billion in 2015 and is likely to witness a double digit growth over the forecast period. The industry is expected to foresee robust growth over the next eight years on account of significantly increasing demand for environment adaptable materials in major applications including biomedical & biotechnology, textile, automotive, electrical & electronics, and nuclear energy.

Smart polymers are also known as intelligent materials or stimuli-responsive products. These products are characterized by unique performance aspects such as good responsiveness to macro as well as micro level changes in the surroundings. Not only do these intelligent materials respond to various stimuli such as temperature, pH, and light, but they are also resilient which gives them the ability to return to their initial physical or chemical state.

Germany smart polymers market, by stimuli type, 2014 - 2025, (USD Million)

Biocompatibility, stability, and flexibility are some of the other attributes exhibited by stimuli-sensitive materials. Owing to the outstanding performance aspects of this product, its application scope is likely to expand over the years ahead, covering other industrial sectors such as oil recovery, mining, pharmaceutical, and printing.

Stimulus Type Insights

Smart materials are categorized on the basis of their response to various external stimuli. These materials respond to a wide range of stimuli such as temperature, pH, infrared and UV radiations, ultrasound, biological enzymes, electric potential, and magnetic field. Physical, chemical, and biological stimuli-responsive polymers are the major segments of these intelligent materials.

Physical stimuli-responsive products constituted the largest share of 47.6% in 2015. These materials are highly sensitive towards surrounding changes in temperature, UV radiations, ultrasound, electric potential, and magnetic field. Demand for this stimulus category is likely to upsurge, due to the requirement of intelligent materials exhibiting low critical solution temperatures, especially in specialized biomedical & biotechnology areas.

Biological stimuli-responsive segment is projected to witness the fastest growth in the next couple of years. These specialty materials act in response to stimuli such as the presence of enzymes and receptors. Such products are likely to gain attention in the future, for emerging biotechnological applications including protein recombination and purification processes.

Application Insights

Textiles application is one of the primary users of stimuli responsive polymers. This sector accounted for 17.9% of the revenue share in 2015 and is expected to influence the market demand in the near future positively. Physical and chemical stimuli-responsive products are favorably used in textile processing.

Global smart polymers market, by application, 2015 (%)

Stimuli-sensitive materials are used for manufacturing environment adaptive fabrics that are capable of withstanding extreme climatic conditions. These products can also be utilized in the processing of color changing textiles, shape changing, and shape recovering fiber yarns. Furthermore, small polymers can also be used in making thermo-regulated fabrics that are compatible with human skin and help in regulating human body temperature.

Rise in research & development on the use of advanced smart materials for manufacturing automotive interior and exterior components is the key factor, which is likely to support further growth in the automotive industry. Hence, the automotive segment is expected to boost the consumption as well as offer lucrative avenues for intelligent polymers in the next couple of years.

Regional Insights

North America was the dominant region accounting for 41.6% of the total consumption in 2015. This trend is likely to continue over the forecast period on account of significant leverage of key end-application sectors such as biomedical & biotechnology, textile, automotive, and electrical industries.

Rising healthcare activities coupled with substantial requirements from the military sector for processing of light sensitive and camouflage fabrics are some of the key growth supporters of stimuli-responsive materials in North America. A similar scenario will be reflected in Europe especially in Germany, France, and other countries in Western Europe.

Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness the fastest growth as a result of the rapid industrialization of the main product end-users primarily automotive, textile, and electrical & electronics sector. The Middle East & Africa and Latin America are anticipated to exhibit slow paced industrial growth of intelligent materials in the coming years, due to lack of product know-how and standardization as compared to developed regions.

Competitive Insights

The key players currently operating in the industry include BASF SE, Nippon Shokubai, Advanced Biopolymers AS, FMC Corporation, Autonomic Materials, Inc., Advanced Polymer Materials Inc., Nexgenia Corporation, Covestro AG, and Lubrizol Corporation. Prominent market participants are focusing on strengthening their positions by implementing key strategies such as focusing on emerging application trends and new product launch.

The industry is highly fragmented and competitive in nature owing to the presence of various global and regional players present across key regions including North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Furthermore, the products supplied by major manufacturers have deep rooted brand value and good company positioning in the global market. This scenario is considered to be a significant barrier for new entrants over the years ahead.

Report Scope

Segments Covered in the Report

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis on the latest trends and opportunities in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the smart polymers market on the basis of stimulus type, application, and region:

• Stimulus Type Outlook (Volume, Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Physical

  • Chemical

  • Biological

  • Others

• Application Outlook (Volume, Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Biomedical & Biotechnology

    • Drug Delivery

    • Tissue Engineering

    • Bioseparation

    • Biocatalyst

  • Automotive

  • Electrical & Electronics

  • Textile

  • Nuclear Energy

    • Radiation Detection

    • Waste Treatment

  • Others

• Regional Outlook (Volume, Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

    • The U.S.

  • Europe

    • Germany

    • UK

    • France

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • Japan

    • India

  • Rest of the World (RoW)