The growing market for nanofibres—from fine filtration to quantum computing

The growing market for nanofibres—from fine filtration to quantum computing

The nanofibres market is set to surge in the coming years as the number of end-use applications continues to expand, the technologies for their manufacture are refined, and new manufacturers arise to exploit emerging niche markets. Ultra-fine webs or coatings for the filtration industry will remain the bedrock of the market, although nanofibres are also used extensively in wound healing products and medical implants, and several niche markets are growing. At one end of the scale, the market is made up of large multinational filtration companies which employ hundreds of thousands of square metres of nanofibre layers in their filter media. At the other end of the scale, the market is made up of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and laboratories which are developing niche products where measurements are in very small units rather than square metres. However, these products have the potential for widespread use and come with extremely high price tags. For example, nanofibres are being used in the development of biologics in cell culture applications, and nanofibre matrix materials are being used in health care for the repair of soft tissue. Elsewhere, bio-surgical implants incorporating nanofibres are being developed, and nanofibre nonwoven sheets are being used in order to cultivate animal cells in vitro in the production of “cultured meat”. At the same time, carbon nanofibres in three-dimensional (3D) structures are being implemented in miniaturised capacitors for integration into semiconductor circuits, and nanofibre-based systems are being developed for use in quantum information processing and transmission.