According to the Market Statsville Group (MSG), the global conductive ink market size is expected to grow from USD 2.63 billion in 2022 to USD 4.00 billion by 2033, at a CAGR of 3.90% from 2022 to 2030. Conductive ink is a paint that contains carbon particles or silver. These particles are responsible for giving this ink, these inks could replace the wires and copper pathway in circuits. Conductive inks are composed of conductive organic polymers in solvents, metallic particles suspended in binders, or organic-metallic blends.

Some of the material used in creating the circuits are Wood, Metals, Textiles, Some types of plastics, Compressed Wood, Paper products. Some of the characteristics of these inks are, generating electrical conductivity between devices, energizing small devices. In general, the most conventional ones usually work at 12V direct current.

The conductive inks are economical then the traditional processes, but they are still expensive and inflexible on unstable bases such as plastic sheets and printed paper. Automotive industry is of the prime end-users of conductive inks market.

COVID-19 Impact on the Global Conductive Ink Market

The COVID-19 had a detrimental impact on electronics manufacturing and all industries associated with it. The electronic material supply chain was severely disrupted by lockdown restrictions enforced by governments across the globe during the early stages of the pandemic. Moreover, the value chain involved in manufacturing flexible electronic devices, such as RFID tags, organic biosensors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes, transistors, and battery components, was disrupted.

There are lot of major players that have announced the suspension of production due to the supply chain bottlenecks, lowered demand and to protect the safety of their employees in the France, US, Italy, Germany and Spain during the COVID-19 emergency.

Global Conductive Ink Market Dynamics

Drivers: Government regulations and miniaturized devices

Globally, governments have imposed environmental regulations to encourage industries to replace heavy materials with lightweight advanced materials in any device. Although the consumer preference small and lightweight electronics that had increased the demand of miniaturization of products for the consumer in the electronics industry. Conductive inks are effective, reliable and efficient, and are widely used as the replacement of conventional wire and circuit arrangement to enhance efficiency and reduce the weight of electronic components. The use of conductive inks offers the properties like material density, lower component weight these properties help in growing demand for miniaturized and more efficient devices in the market.

Restraints: Lack of availability of raw material

The lack of chemical similarity with most polymers, which is required to give mechanical durability, is the key factor affecting the growth of the conductive inks industry. There is a need to produce chemicals that can provide conductive inks with long-term stability for commercial uses. This issue is generally faced with nanoparticle inks, as the technologies that are required for this are expensive to use. A growing number of specialized printing processes require conductive inks to be optimized.

Conductive inks are produced either by different types of metals such as silver, copper and chemical or by using carbon particles. Carbon particles are preferred in many applications as they offer adequate chemical properties at a low cost.

Opportunities: Growth in adoption in developing countries

Although there are currently different applications for gallium in microelectronics in the area of conductive ink. The important characteristics to consider from the gallium ink are viscosity, corrosion and surface tension.  The importance of viscosity is a critical parameter in the printing ink mixture, which requires a metal to fulfill the function of conductor, such as gold, silver and copper. Gallium as a conductor replaces the proposed due to the high cost of such metals that are currently used in the conductive ink. The application of gallium could mean a significant change in conductive ink elaboration process. Thus, the main aim of this research is to analyze the application of use of gallium in conductive ink, which is done by a literature review on gallium as a semi-conductor because of his valence electrons.

Scope of the Global Conductive Ink Market

The study categorizes the conductive ink market based on component, waste type, method, and application at the regional and global levels.

By Type Outlook (Sales, USD Million, 2017-2030)

• Silver inks
• Copper inks
• Carbon nanotube inks
• Carbon/graphene inks
• Conductive polymer

By Application Outlook (Sales, USD Million, 2017-2030)

• Photovoltaics
• Membrane Switches
• Displays
• RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)

By Region Outlook (Sales, USD Million, 2017-2030)

• North America
  • US
  • Canada
  • Mexico
• Europe
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • France
  • UK
  • Spain
  • Poland
  • Russia
  • The Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Czech Republic
  • Rest of Europe
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • Japan
  • India
  • South Korea
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Thailand
  • Singapore
  • Australia & New Zealand
  • Rest of Asia Pacific
• South America
  • Brazil
  • Argentina
  • Colombia
  • Rest of South America
• The Middle East & Africa
  • Saudi Arabia
  • UAE
  • South Africa
  • Northern Africa
  • Rest of MEA

Photovoltaic segment is projected to account for the largest market share

Thin film photovoltaic technology is one of the emerging applications. Thin film solar cells are printed with grid lines using conductive inks, which have excellent adhesion and flexibility. Multifunctional, ultra-lightweight printed solar cells are at the helm of recent technological advancements, including inkjet printing. Through inkjet printing, researchers can produce more energy-efficient and cost-effective solar cells, enabling them to capitalize on the growing trend toward cleaner solar energy sources around the world.

Although the changes in policies of the government China, USA, India, and the U.K. for the surplus photovoltaic module installation have slowed the PV growth rate, conductive inks still hold a major share in the market.

Asia Pacific accounts for the highest CAGR during the forecast period

The Asia-Pacific region has the strongest economic growth, which is expected to continue due to increased product utilisation from end-use sectors such as touch screens, photovoltaics, microelectronics, and many more. Regional demand for consumer electronics has increased significantly in recent years. Because of shifting demographics and increased purchasing power, this trend is expected to continue over the projected period.. Furthermore, several Southeast Asian countries have committed to replacing fossil fuels with solar photovoltaics to meet their energy needs, including China, India, and a few other countries.

Key Market Players in the Global Conductive Ink Market

Major players in the global conductive ink market are:

• DuPont
• Vorbeck Materials Corp.
• Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc.
• Sun Chemical Corporation
• PPG Industries, Inc.
• Creative Materials, Inc
• Poly-Ink
• Henkel Ag & Co. KgaA
• PChem Associates, Inc.
• omya ag

Recent Developments

• In March 2022, 5881, a new silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) conductive ink/paste for healthcare applications, was launched by DuPont's Microcircuit and Component Materials (MCM) business. This will increase the demand of reliability and accuracy devices that measure patients, heart rate, respiratory function, and blood glucose levels.
• In May 2020, Creative Materials Inc., Massachusetts, introduced a new generation economical gold conductive ink, adhesive and coating. As a result of CMI's 128-24, the gold is maximized to establish conductivity with the least amount of gold possible while maximizing its effectiveness.

Key Issues Addressed

• What is the market size by various segmentation of the conductive ink by region and its respective countries?
• What are the customer buying behavior, key takeaways, and Porter's 5 forces of the conductive ink market?
• What are the key opportunities and trends for manufacturers involved in the conductive ink supply chain?
• What are the fundamental dynamics (drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges) of the market?
• What and how regulations, schemes, patents, and policies are impacting the growth of the market?
• What are the upcoming technological solutions influencing market trends? How will existing companies adapt to the new change in technology?
• The market player positioning, top winning strategies by years, company product developments, and launches will be?
• How has COVID-19 impacted the demand and sales of conductive ink in the global market? Also, the expected BPS drop or rise count of the market and market predicted recovery period.
• Detailed analysis of the competitors and their latest launch, and what are the prominent startups introduced in the target market? Also, detailed company profiling of 25+ leading and prominent companies in the market.