Self-Healing Materials Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Form (Intrinsic, and Extrinsic), By Product (Polymer, Concrete, Metal, Coating, Ceramic, Asphalt, and Fiber-Reinforced Composites), By End-use Industry (Transportation, Consumer Goods, Building & Construction, Energy Generation, Healthcare, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2024-2032

The global self-healing materials market size was USD 5.58 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow from USD 9.08 billion in 2024 to USD 436.92 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 62.5% during the 2024-2032 period. Europe dominated the self-healing materials market with a market share of 32.8% in 2023.

Extensive use of the product in the building & infrastructure industry is a major growth factor in the market. The increased use of composites in the automobile industry is also contributing to market growth. In addition, the rising demand for the wind energy industry is pushing the need for the product. FRP composites are used in wind turbines, making the blades heavier with excellent fatigue and corrosion.

COVID-19 has had a major effect on the logistics and manufacturing industries, which has hampered the market. The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the globally intertwined automobile industry. The effect on the market includes halting Chinese exports, especially plastics & coating raw materials, widespread commodity destruction throughout Europe, and the closure of manufacturing plants in the U.S. Despite this, China is responsible for more than 80% of the global automotive supply chain. Car rates in China plummeted by 18% in January 2020.

Sales could drop by 40% or more in 2020, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), compared to the initial two months of the sales during last year. Production shortfalls resulting from supply chain interruptions in China will have a substantial impact on global auto production. Warehouse closures, supply chain disruptions, and declining demand have all taken a significant toll. As a result, some car dealerships closed indefinitely, causing the market for floor plan lending to fall. Ford, Honda, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and Tesla are among the companies with temporarily halted manufacturing.

The consumer goods segment experienced a mixed impact of the global pandemic in 2020. The supply chain disruption caused severe drops in sales of consumer goods but comparatively lesser effects on certain sectors like food & beverages, packaging, and consumer electronics. However, limited cash flow, adaptation to the new online and digital-first strategies, supply chain management, and inventory management have been tough challenges for manufacturers and suppliers. The companies are focused on preparing and implementing new strategies to adapt to the new normal and build a new supply chain strategy that shall support sales and growth in such challenging times.

Self-Healing Materials Market Trends

Continuous Expansion of the Wind Power Industry to be a Prominent Trend

The wind power industry is one of the rapidly growing composite application industries, where reinforcing fibers are used in light rotor blade manufacturing. A fundamental feature of the design of wind blades is choosing suitable materials, which can affect many parameters such as weight, load & fatigue behavior, physical properties, etc. Materials such as bamboo, steel, and aluminum were used to manufacture wind blades many years earlier. In a cost-driven market, the wind industry relies on bottom-line prices and how to do more but pay less. Composite components allow high strength at a low weight, meaning that more extended and more powerful rotor blades can be generated cost-effectively for more giant wind turbines.

The primary construction material used in the manufacture of wind turbine blades is glass. Wind turbines are primarily made of steel (71-79 percent of total turbine mass), resin, or plastic (11-16 percent), iron or cast iron (5-17 percent), copper (1 percent), and aluminium (0-2 percent), as per the study conducted by National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In many wind applications, composites, such as FRP, are used as reinforcement materials. Their elevated strength and rigidity characteristics make them ideal turbine components combined with their low weight and design versatility. In composites, these materials have proved to be one of the most flexible materials to use. Ultimately, the ability to mold this fiber into complicated forms enables the blade maker to provide various alternatives to any particular concern.

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Self-Healing Materials Market Growth Factors

Growth in the Global Construction Industry to Offer Opportunities to the Market

Concrete is a conventional material used for building and construction activities. It is widely used in constructing infrastructures like dams, ports, storage tanks, roads, tunnels, subways, and others. Despite being strong and durable, it has a high tendency to form cracks, allowing various unwanted aggressive chemicals and other materials to seep in. These cracks and the deposition of chemicals into cracks cause deterioration of the infrastructure and reduce the same durability. Active treatment techniques like self-healing techniques are operated to treat such damages.

Moreover, microcapsule-based self-healing materials offer solutions to auto-recovery micro-cracks and maintain structural health. The important self-healing mechanism of microcapsule-based materials is developing cracks-breaking capsules, and the rejuvenator is released into the cracks for repair. More particularly, capsules comprising the rejuvenating agent are embedded in the building materials. When cracks arise and grow, the incorporated microcapsules near the cracks break subject to the mechanical effect of the crack-tip stress.

Consequently, the rejuvenator inside the microcapsules is released into the cracks through capillary permeation to start automatic repair. Such a solution has become available through laboratory synthesis and has been proven effective in solving the cracking problem during long-term thermal, mechanical, and hydraulic conditions.  Thus, the early-stage cracks can be entirely healed by the released rejuvenator, preventing further cracking and structural failure.

Self-healing techniques have the ability to immediately repair the cracks as the self-healing mechanism allows rapid treatment. Due to the shortcomings of the existing treatments, alternative and innovative treatment methods like self-healing and encapsulation of polymeric materials are high in demand. Adoption of such advanced technologies shall fuel market growth over the forecast period.

Increasing constructional activities of public and private infrastructure in the rising economy such as India is one of the key driving factors. Government initiatives like the Make in India campaign further supports the domestic manufacturing, enabling easy access to raw materials required in the construction industry. The product has various uses due to its strength and longer lifespan in infrastructure, which would profit the construction industry. Moreover, increasing adoption of CMCs, composites, polymer-based materials in construction shall drive the market further.

Awareness Regarding Rapid Healing Time to Fuel Demand for Self-healing Materials

There has been a significant development in self-healing technologies over the last few decades. Various R&D experts in science & material engineering have been continuously involved in developing self-healing polymeric materials.

Self-conductive materials are electronic or bioelectric materials that are manufactured by integrating reversible bonds into the conductive type of polymers by implementing conductive fillers in self-healing polymers. NASA has used various self-healing systems for wiring structures and aeronautical engineering, which further resulted in excellent results without scars post healing. The average healing time for self-healing systems has been reported to be 15-20 seconds. NASA has even developed certain materials with even more rapid healing time, by exploiting the viscoelastic properties of materials at high temperature for aerospace, rotorcraft, aircraft, and bulletproof applications in the defense sector. This is expected to boost self-healing materials market growth.

RESTRAINING FACTORS

Limited Self-Healing Mechanism May Hinder Market Growth

These materials employ a self-healing mechanism which is limited by design. The encapsulated healing agents are microscopic and thus prevent the compromising of the overall reliability of the material. The tiny size of the capsule limits the amount of healing agents in the materials. This ultimately constraints the amount of damage the healing agent can repair.

High elastic polymers, regardless of having high elasticity, cannot withstand pressure at times. Microcapsules are similar to high-elastic polymers and cannot withstand much external force. The limited microcapsule holding capacity of materials coupled with the irreversible process of capsules rupture is expected to limit the ability to repair the material. This shortcoming of the product is expected to limit market growth.

Self-Healing Materials Market Segmentation Analysis

By Form Analysis

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Intrinsic Segment to Generate High Revenue due to Tremendous Growth in Various End-use Industries

The market by form is segmented into intrinsic, and extrinsic. The intrinsic segment held the major self-healing materials market share of the market and is likely to continue this trend during the forecast period. Intrinsic systems or materials have the innate ability to restore the integrity of the material after damage.

These materials also need an external factor to stimulate the healing process. For example, reversible healing polymers Diels Alder and Retro Diels Alder are exceptional due to its thermal reversibility. The functional groups of furan and maleimide construct the polymer undergoing DA reaction. Upon heating, it breaks down to its component units through Retro DA and reforms the polymer on cooling.

By Product Analysis

Polymer Segment to Lead Backed by Increased Demand.

Based on the product, the market is segmented into polymer, concrete, metal, coating, ceramic, asphalt, and fiber-reinforced composites. Polymer segment held the prime share of the market in 2023. Increasing demand attributed to the increasing adoption of polymers like polyurethane, cross linked polymers, vitrimers, and multifunctional polymers owing to the exceptional properties like thermal stability, durability, resistance to abrasion, thermodynamically stability, and abrasion resistance shall drive the growth.

Self-healing ceramic composites are being widely used in jet engines, aircrafts and other aerospace applications attributed to the high thermal resistance. Their ability to repair the damage that may have occurred during flight can aid the lifetime of the components. The self-healing conductive materials are also employed in aerospace applications. For instance, the wiring systems of space shuttles of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2017 were based on the novel low melting polyimide film matrix.

By End-use Industry Analysis

Transportation Segment to Hold a Significant Share due to Stringent Government Regulations

Based on the end-use industry, the market is segmented into transportation, consumer goods, building construction, energy generation, healthcare, and others. Transportation constituted the primary share in terms of volume, owing to the high demand for materials that maintain the structural integrity of vehicles. Increasing the adoption of such self-healing materials that reduce the vehicle's maintenance cost is expected to witness the segment growth. For example, in 2017 Lamborghini partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced the concept of developing a self-healing car under the name Terzo Millennio.

Consumer goods is one of the prime segments contributing to the market growth. Growing population, coupled with increasing expenditure on lifestyle, has increased the demand for polymer-based consumer products across the globe. Another key driver for market growth is the increasing infrastructural activities in emerging economies, coupled with the increased use of composites, polymers, and other advanced materials instead of conventional concrete. The microbial self-healing properties of the materials are distinguished due to the durability, rapid crack-repair ability, and the environment-friendly nature shall create market opportunities.

REGIONAL INSIGHTS

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The market size in Europe stood at USD 1.83 billion in 2023 growing at a considerable growth rate. Rising demand in the transportation industry is expected to boost the market. The increasing use of self-healing materials attributed to the incomparable properties like durability, thermal stability, abrasion resistance, stiffness, strength, and others shall foster market growth. Moreover, the ample number of manufacturers present in countries like Germany, France, Russia, and the UK shall drive regional growth.

The mounting construction sector in North America is expected to drive the market. In the building & construction industries adoption of green technologies and environment-friendly construction materials is anticipated to positively impact the market growth. Additionally, increasing demand for polymer based self-healing materials from the aerospace and defense sector of the U.S is a key factor driving the market.

The consumer goods industry is in a developing phase in Asia, and is supported by growing demand from South-Asian population. The high demand for consumer goods, including consumer electronics and wearables, will boost self-healing materials consumption. Increasing expenditure on lifestyle and premium quality products like electronic wearables is one prime reason supporting the growth. Increasing R&D on self-healing batteries and devices, corrosion resistant materials for marine and oil & gas application areas in the region is anticipated to fuel the market growth.

The Middle East and Africa is expected to exhibit moderate growth. Wind energy is one of the significant sources of energy in South Africa. Attributed to the high strength, durability, and mechanical stability of composites, they are being highly employed in the manufacturing of wind blades. Recently in 2018, the wind power construction activity in Africa was estimated to peak at 1 GW of capacity in 2020 and 2024. Increasing construction of such wind turbines using composites shall boost the market growth.

The key factor driving the market in Latin America is the increase in oil disposal and mining activities by private as well as public organizations. Increasing the use of polymer and fiber-reinforced composites in pipes and storage facilities of oil and gas shall further drive the market.

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List of Key Companies in Self-Healing Materials Market

Key Companies to Conduct Research and Development Activities to Increase Their Market Presence

The competitive landscape of the market comprises several global as well as regional players. Market-based companies are seen to concentrate on maintaining product distinction, leading to strong investments in R&D operations. To draw the buyers and succeed in the market, local manufacturers gradually embrace the latest technologies in their brands. To gain an advantage over their peers, manufacturers are seen concentrating on improving product quality and building up strong production and export networks. Some of the key players operating in the global market are Acciona S.A., AkzoNobel N.V., Arkema SA, BASF SE, Covestro AG, Du Pont, Evonik Industries, and others.

LIST OF KEY COMPANIES PROFILED

• Acciona S.A. (Spain)


• AkzoNobel N.V. (Netherlands)


• Applied Thin Films, Inc. (U.S.)


• Arkema SA (France)


• Autonomic Materials Inc. (U.S.)


• Avecom N.V. (Belgium)


• BASF SE (Germany)


• Covestro AG (Germany)


• E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company (U.S.)


• Evonik Industries (Germany)


• Sensor Coating Systems Ltd. (U.K.)


• Slips Technologies, Inc. (U.S.)

KEY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS

• April 2015– Acciona developed self-healing materials to extend the lifespan and workability of the infrastructures. Acciona Infrastructures is part of Shine and Healcon European projects to establish the road surfaces and concrete that can repair themselves.


• January 2020– Autonomic Materials investigated the self-healing materials with protective coating systems. Trails proved that the low VOC waterborne self-healing coating is extremely useful for corrosion resistant.

REPORT COVERAGE

An Infographic Representation of Self Healing Materials Market

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The market research report provides a detailed analysis of the market and focuses on crucial aspects such as leading companies, products, and financial performances. Along with that, the report also offers key insights about the market trends analysis and highlights major industry developments. In addition to the factors mentioned above, the report encompasses various factors contributing to the market's growth in recent years. This study also includes historical data & forecasts revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels and analyzes the industry's latest market dynamics and opportunities.

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