The current market is small, concentrated mainly in niche areas, but growing rapidly. In 2002, Business Communications Co. in the U.S. published a series of reports that evaluated existing and potential markets for nanoparticulate materials¹. In 2000 the world market for nanoparticulate materials reached $429.5 million.

The three main markets are :

• Electronics, opto-electronics and magnetic applications (67.6% of the market in 2000)
   
• Biomedical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications (19.7% of the market in 2000)
   
• Energy, catalytic and structural applications (12.7% of the market in 2000)

There are some technical barriers to commercialism, the foremost being mass production and the cost of nanomaterials. As production know-how increases the materials costs are expect to decrease dramatically.

The production of carbon nanotubes, (tiny carbon cylinders) is a good example. Five years ago, 1 gram of low-grade nanotubes cost $1000. The same nanotubes can be purchased today for $30 due to increased manufacturing efficiencies and greater processing know-how. High purity nanotubes (+95%) unattainable several years ago are now available at cost for $400 per gram.