Feasibility study for an Estonian Materials Technology Programme

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55 Feasibility study for an Estonian Materials Technology Programme 2. Materials technology in Estonia To succeed in technology commercialisation and production scale-up, companies need rather significant investments ranging roughly from 1 to 10 million EUR or even more. This can be achieved by either attracting private (foreign) investors to invest in these start-ups or more risk taking attitude from the government in funding the start-up efforts. 2.5.3 Applied research Some of the most interesting activities in Estonia related to advanced materials technologies are currently in the applied research phase. This includes a broad range of materials that can be applied in various high technology applications. This expertise mostly builds on the fundamental research work done at the University of Tartu and Tallinn University of Technology. In brief, the status of advanced materials development in Estonia can be summarised as follows: Advanced materials Nanomaterials (TUT, TU, ENCC) Carbon based nanomaterials (TU, ENCC, Skeleton Technologies) Advanced sensor materials (TUT, TU, ENCC, Skeleton Technologies, Evikon MCI) Rare-earth metals and oxides (Silmet, TU, KBFI) Photovoltaic materials (TUT, TU) Coatings Coatings for metals industry (TUT, TU) Coatings and thin films for electronics and sensors (TUT, TU) The listed areas of materials are naturally somewhat overlapping but division in the abovementioned sections gives a good overall picture of the relative size of corresponding market potential. The largest of the fields mentioned are the markets for photovoltaic materials and nanomaterials in general. A recent estimate of the photovoltaic materials market is estimated at 6.5 billion USD and expected to grow up to 17 billion USD by 2015 55 . This includes the semiconductor materials such as crystalline silicon and amorphous silicon as well as gases, chemicals, precursors and other materials needed for solar cell production. In addition to Crystalsol that is developing solar cell products, the vast research base at Tallinn University of Technology and University of Tartu means that Estonia has also broader potential for technology transfer in the area. Materials being studied include monograin photovoltaic materials, hybrid organic-inorganic materials, thin film technology for solar cells and electrically conducting polymers. The estimates of the global nanomaterials market vary a lot but a conservative estimate from the Freedonia Group suggests that the global nanomaterial demand will be 3.6 billion USD in 2013. This includes traditional materials in nano-scale such as silica, titanium dioxide, clays, gold and silver but also more advanced nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes. The Estonian Nanotechnology Competence Centre is heavily focusing on technology transfer of nanomaterials into commercial products with its partners and results can be expected in the coming years. The subsector of carbon nanomaterials is estimated to grow up to 1.7 billion USD by 2017 according to Nanomarkets. In Estonia, University of Tartu and Skeleton Technologies are the most important players in carbon based nanomaterials research, development and production. In addition to nanomaterials, researchers in Estonia are studying e.g. micro and nanoporous carbons and micro and mesoporous complex rare-earth metal oxides. All these materials are also highly relevant to sensor technologies. The advanced sensor materials market is expected to grow up to 2.5 billion USD by 2012, which makes 25% of the whole advanced sensor market it enables (9.4 billion USD by 2012). The Estonian Nanotechnology Competence Centre has a key role in transferring the advanced materials inventions to sensor technology applications. Another large area with very high potential for Estonian materials technology is novel and advanced metals coatings. These technologies are mainly developed at the Tallinn University of Technology and relevant activities are ongoing also at the University of Tartu (e.g. Atomic Layer Deposition) and Tallinn University of Applied Sciences. In addition to the vast research base, the large industrial base in metals and machinery (especially special tooling) and huge materials technology megatrends in tribology and wear reduction make the metal coatings one of the most potential future fields for materials technology in Estonia. The advanced coatings market for metals industry can be roughly estimated to grow up to at least 20 billion USD by 2015, consisting of somewhat overlapping subsectors including diamond-like coatings (1.7 billion) 56 , nanocoatings (13 billion) 57 55 SEMI and Linx-AEI Consulting 56 BCC Research 57 ResearchAndMarkets
56 Feasibility study for an Estonian Materials Technology Programme 2. Materials technology in Estonia and abrasion, wear and corrosion resistant nanocoatings (900 million) 58 . Also for comparison, global markets for physical vapor deposition, which is an important deposition method for advanced coatings, is estimated at 17 billion USD 59 and global automotive coatings market at 14 billion USD 60 . Due to the nationally strong industry and huge global markets with space for clever niche applications, advanced metals coatings can be considered as having the largest potential for technology transfer activities in Estonia for the following 5 years. Table 5 shows the overall picture of what kind of research is conducted in the research groups in the Estonian Universities and to which industry sectors the researchers themselves believe they are targeting their research. Most research groups are targeting the energy sector. The research has been discussed in more detail under the industry sectors in section 2.4. The large Electronics / ICT sector consists of research groups focusing on thin films and nanoelectronics, which are mostly centred on the fundamental research side. Table 5. Research groups working on different materials and developing technology to different industries Data based on questionnaire sent out to research groups in fall 2010. Estimate of overall situation. 2.5.4 Fundamental research The Estonian science system is very much focused in fundamental research and most of the money received by the universities relevant for materials science is used for fundamental research of physics, chemistry and biotechnology. The commercialisation of fundamental research takes typically a very long time and results can be expected in time periods of 5 to 15 years. It is very often the case that results are never commercialised. Based on the publication study earlier in this document, the fundamental research activities in Estonia can be roughly categorised in: Fundamental physics: Solid state and condensed matter physics (Tartu University Institute of Physics) Solar cells and related materials research: Tallinn University of Technology Electrochemistry (Tartu University Institute of Chemistry) 58 ResearchAndMarkets 59 BCC Research 60 Frost & Sullivan Total Metals Semi-conductors Ceramics, concrete Total 19 13 11 17 7 9 7 20 13 4 21 Electronics / ICT 14 7 9 9 9 9 Forest and paper 5 Metal 8 8 Construction 10 6 Machinery 11 9 7 Energy 22 8 10 6 9 6 11 Environment 15 6 6 7 9 Chemical industry 13 9 7 Packaging industry 1 Textiles industry 2 Biotechnology 12 7 Food industry 5 Healthcare / well-being 4 Medical / pharmaceutical 10 Polymers Fiber-based materials Nature-based materials Biocompatible materials Coatings and surface treatment Optical materials Magnetic materials Nano-materials
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Innovation studies 15 2011 Feasibil
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Authors: Commissioned by Technology
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Feasibility study for an Estonian Materials Technology Programme

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