Because of the latest controversies involving antimicrobial coatings, I want to point out a report on the future use of silver for antimicrobials.  I found this report from a group I was not aware of ….but should have been!   The group is ‘n-tech Research’ and they provide market research and analysis for advanced materials with a special focus on functional and smart materials.  There is quite a bit of information available relative to the coatings industry.  I suspect most of you readers are aware of this group and, for those who are not, I would suggest their website:   ntechresearch.com. 
In any event, they just issued a report, Sept. 2016, titled, “Opportunities for Silver Inks, Pastes and Coatings: 2016 to 2025.”  This report continues the firm’s coverage of the silver inks and pastes business that dates back to 2008 and also discusses high-value silver coatings opportunities (especially silver-based antimicrobials) where they see opportunities for firms that traditionally focus on the silver inks and pastes business.  They project that silver-based inks, pastes and antimicrobial coatings will reach $7.5 billion by 2021. 

Basically the report discusses where new and revived markets will be found.  The report also analyzes the antimicrobial sector.  As I said, in view of the controversy regarding the effectiveness of antimicrobial coatings this might be a very good report to peruse.