Global Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

Global Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) Market Research Report 2023-Competitive Analysis, Status and Outlook by Type, Downstream Industry, and Geography, Forecast to 2029

The Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) is a very important supporting material in a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). Gas diffusion layers are a porous material composed of a dense array of carbon fibers, which also provides an electrically conductive pathway for current collection.

Market Overview:

The latest research study on the global Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) market finds that the global Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) market reached a value of USD 128.42 million in 2022. It’s expected that the market will achieve USD 339.17 million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 17.57% during the forecast period.

Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) Market Challenges

Scale-up production
The production cost of gas diffusion layer is greatly influenced by the production scale, and expanding the production scale can effectively reduce the cost of gas diffusion layer. Improving the performance of carbon paper & carbon cloth and expanding the production scale are crucial to reduce the cost of fuel cell power stacks. According to a joint research project between the U.S. Department of Energy and Ballard, the production cost of gas diffusion layer is $4.45/m2 when the annual output of gas diffusion layer is 10 million m2/year (about 500,000 fuel cell systems), and about $56/m2 when the production scale is 100,000 m2/year. Although the current hydrogen energy industry chain has been formed and the performance of fuel cell system has met the commercialization demand, the large-scale commercialization of fuel cell vehicles is still constrained by economics and practicality. The scale effect will have an important impact on the cost of fuel cells and fuel cell vehicles. The technology of gas diffusion layer focuses on the carbon paper of the support layer, and the mature products in the international are Toray, SGL and AVCarb.

Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) Market Restraints

Raw material supply and price fluctuation risk
Although the raw material market is mature, prices are showing varying degrees of volatility due to industry chains, trade policies and prices of other basic raw materials as well as market supply and demand. Globally, the prices of PTFE and carbon fiber are increasing, further leading to an increase in the final cost of GDL. If a GDL manufacturer does not have sufficient raw material autonomy, i.e., all required materials are sourced externally, the company's raw material purchase prices will also be subject to a degree of uncertainty and fluctuations in purchase costs will affect the company's profitability. In contrast, a backward integrated manufacturer can achieve control over upstream raw materials and have more stable operations.

Region Overview:

Europe dominated the Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) market in 2022, with a market share of 22.34 %.

Company Overview:

Toray is one of the major players operating in the Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) market, holding a share of 31.55% in 2023.

Toray

Toray is a diversified group. The Company operates in five business segments. The Textile segment manufactures, processes and sells textile and apparel products. The Functional Chemicals Segment manufactures and sells resins and resin molded products, films and film processed products, synthetic fiber plastic raw materials, fine chemicals, electronic information materials and imprint materials.

SGL

SGL, together with its subsidiaries, is a manufacturer of products and solutions based on carbon fibers and specialty graphites. It operates through three segments: Composites-Fibers & Materials (CFM), Graphite Materials & Systems (GMS) and Corporate. The Company serves industries, including chemicals, textile fibers, industrial applications, energy and mobility. The CFM segment includes materials business based on carbon fibers. The CFM segment focuses on developing composite materials and associated components mainly for automotive, wind energy and aerospace industries.

Segmentation Overview:

Among different product types, Carbon Paper Type segment is anticipated to contribute the largest market share in 2028.

Application Overview:

In the Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) market, 67.02% of the total value was generated through the Hydrogen-oxygen Fuel Cell segment by application in 2022.

Key Companies in the global Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) market covered in Chapter 3:

Fuel Cells Etc
Toray
SGL
AvCarb
Freudenberg
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

In Chapter 4 and Chapter 14.2, on the basis of types, the Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) market from 2018 to 2029 is primarily split into:

Carbon Paper Type
Carbon Cloth Type

In Chapter 5 and Chapter 14.3, on the basis of Downstream Industry, the Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) market from 2018 to 2029 covers:

Hydrocarbon Fuels Cell
Hydrogen-oxygen Fuel Cell

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2018-2029) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 8 to Chapter 14:

North America (United States, Canada)
Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden)
Asia Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia)
Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina)
Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa)