3. Applications

3.1 Economic context and initial developments

The market for conductive polymers in the United States, all systems combined (carbon black, metal powders, PIC) was estimated at 745 million US dollars in 2003. This market should reach 1.5 billion dollars in 2008. The PIC market, for its part, was estimated at $140 million in 2003, and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 34.2%, reaching a total value of $610 million in 2008. Markets for antistatic (ESD) applications alone are expected to reach $1.5 billion in 2009.

A market survey carried out in 2005 confirmed the interest of players in this field in the process we had developed.

The most promising and technically accessible applications for our technology are, in order :...