GINC Critical Technology
Capability group

Advanced Materials & Manufacturing

The capacity to design, make and scale the materials and manufacturing processes on which advanced industry and defence depend, from structural composites to energetic chemistry and the additive, precision and process technologies that turn matter into product.

Domain
Critical Technology · Hard Power
Identifier
factbase.org/cpg/TNP52GEY0H
Capabilities
7

Bounds. Holds materials and manufacturing technology as national capacity. Industrial production at scale belongs to the economic domains and to Strategic Infrastructure's manufacturing capabilities; mining and commodity processing operations to Strategic Infrastructure's Resource Infrastructure, with processing, substitution and recycling technology reading across this group's capabilities at the control layer; munitions production and stockpiles to National Security and Strategic Infrastructure, with the underlying chemistry held here.

Capabilities

Structural & Composite Materials3GKXK8FP0GThe capacity to design, produce and qualify structural materials, advanced composites, alloys and protective armour systems, that carry load, save weight and withstand extremes across aerospace, defence and industry.Research44k papers +18%China 20%Patents57k families +10%China 70%Functional Materials & CoatingsEFGR7R6K02The capacity to engineer materials and surfaces that do something, respond, adapt, protect, sense or heal, from stimulus-responsive materials to multifunctional engineered coatings.Research89.9k papers +26%China 33%Patents64.4k families −4%China 68%Nanomaterials & MetamaterialsH6EDVXCQ0QThe capacity to engineer matter at the nanoscale and to design materials whose structure, not their chemistry, gives them properties nature does not supply.Research35.6k papers +16%China 32%Patents62.6k families +26%China 71%Superconducting, Magnetic & Photonic MaterialsAHQ2Z8FP1NThe capacity to produce the superconducting, magnetic and photonic materials that underpin high-field magnets, quantum and fusion machines, power systems and photonics.Research62.4k papers +30%China 20%Patents20.6k families +18%China 55%Energetic MaterialsXG4SE74C1KThe capacity to research, formulate and produce energetic materials, propellant and explosives chemistry, at the quality and scale national programmes require.Research4.9k papers +18%China 44%Patents3.1k families +4%China 82%Additive & Precision ManufacturingEMBM2M9E1BThe capacity to make parts that could not be made before and to finish them to tolerances that decide performance: additive manufacturing and high-precision production technology.Research89.7k papers +114%China 18%Patents66.7k families +13%China 55%Advanced Chemical & Process ManufacturingX1ETSGZE1CThe capacity to design and run advanced chemical and process manufacturing, continuous-flow synthesis, process intensification and the scale-up technology that turns laboratory chemistry into industrial supply.Research2.1k papers +18%China 19%Patents13.4k families +55%China 66%

The capabilities compared

Papers and patent families, 2020–2024, with growth on the five years before and the leading nation in each.

CapabilityPapersGrowthResearch leaderFamiliesGrowthPatent leader
Structural & Composite Materials44k+18%China 20%57k+10%China 70%
Functional Materials & Coatings89.9k+26%China 33%64.4k−4%China 68%
Nanomaterials & Metamaterials35.6k+16%China 32%62.6k+26%China 71%
Superconducting, Magnetic & Photonic Materials62.4k+30%China 20%20.6k+18%China 55%
Energetic Materials4.9k+18%China 44%3.1k+4%China 82%
Additive & Precision Manufacturing89.7k+114%China 18%66.7k+13%China 55%
Advanced Chemical & Process Manufacturing2.1k+18%China 19%13.4k+55%China 66%

Research across the group

Papers by year for each capability, and the nations' shares of the group's papers, 2020–2024. A capability that shares a v0.0 topic with another counts it in both.

  1. 1China21.2%69,811 papers
  2. 2United States9.5%31,259 papers
  3. 3India6.6%21,797 papers
  4. 4Germany4.1%13,545 papers
  5. 5Russia3.4%11,031 papers
  6. 6United Kingdom3.1%10,133 papers
  7. 7Japan2.8%9,197 papers
  8. 8South Korea2.2%7,308 papers
  9. 9France2.2%7,276 papers
  10. 10Italy2.1%6,754 papers

Patents across the group

Patent families by priority year for each capability, and the origin nations' shares of the group's families, 2020–2024. A family in two capabilities' classes counts in both.

  1. 1China65.1%187,377 families
  2. 2Japan9.1%26,123 families
  3. 3United States7.4%21,410 families
  4. 4South Korea7.1%20,315 families
  5. 5Germany2.7%7,825 families
  6. 6Taiwan1.5%4,366 families
  7. 7France1.3%3,662 families
  8. 8United Kingdom0.6%1,620 families
  9. 9Switzerland0.4%1,262 families
  10. 10Canada0.3%981 families

Companies

322 companies in Advanced Materials & Manufacturing, across 8 regions. The leading 12:

  1. 1BASFWorld's largest chemical producer, running integrated Verbund sites and a large process-development and catalyst business that is among the top international patent applicants in process chemistry.Manufacture
  2. 2Cabot CorporationOne of the world's largest producers of carbon nanotube conductive additives, fumed metal oxides and engineered carbon nanostructures for batteries, polymers and coatings.Manufacture
  3. 3Northrop GrummanLargest US producer of solid rocket propellants and motors (ex-Orbital ATK) and a leading military energetics producer at Bacchus and Allegany Ballistics Laboratory.Manufacture
  4. 4PPG IndustriesOne of the two largest coatings makers globally, supplying aerospace, automotive OEM, protective and functional coatings (anti-corrosion, conductive, self-cleaning).Manufacture
  5. 5Shin-Etsu ChemicalMajor producer of sintered NdFeB and SmCo rare-earth magnets, synthetic quartz for optical-fibre preforms, and lithium tantalate/niobate photonic crystals; a top international patent applicant in this field.Manufacture
  6. 6StratasysLargest polymer additive manufacturing system maker by revenue, with FDM and PolyJet printers, materials and software (dual HQ Rehovot and Eden Prairie, Minnesota).Manufacture
  7. 7Toray IndustriesWorld's largest carbon fibre producer (Torayca, including Zoltek large-tow and Toray Advanced Composites prepregs), primary supplier of the carbon fibre in the Boeing 787 and the second-largest PCT patent applicant in this field.Manufacture
  8. 8BAE SystemsOperates the US Army's Holston (RDX/HMX) and Radford (nitrocellulose and propellant) plants and UK energetics at Glascoed, and is a top international patent applicant in energetic materials.Operation
  9. 9EOSWorld leader in industrial laser powder-bed fusion systems for metals and polymers, with a large installed base in aerospace, medical and tooling.Manufacture
  10. 10HexcelLeading Western maker of aerospace-grade carbon fibre (HexTow), prepregs and honeycomb, qualified on the Airbus A350 and on most US military aircraft.Manufacture
  11. 11HoneywellIts subsidiary UOP is the leading licensor of refining and petrochemical process technology (Platforming, Oleflex, aromatics) along with catalysts and adsorbents, and is the second-largest patent applicant in this field.Software & services
  12. 12OCSiAlThe world's largest producer of single-wall carbon nanotubes (TUBALL), with production in Novosibirsk and Serbia supplying battery and polymer makers globally.Manufacture
All 322 in the Companies table →