Advanced Materials

Electric vehicle (EV) sales continued to increase in 2024, admittedly with some significant regional disparity, but IDTechEx found that globally, EV sales increased 24% in 2024 over 2023. Despite the fact that most data shows EV fires are less common than combustion engine vehicles, safety cannot be overlooked in any rate of occurrence. This article aims to discuss some of the key factors and some of the potential materials that EV battery designers may consider.

The space industry is changing, with emerging private companies seeking to commercialize space travel. This has implications for material design and selection. Thermal protection systems (TPS) are a key component that protect spacecraft during entry, descent, and landing. This premium article introduces the need for TPS and some of the key developments in reusable tile-based systems.

Aerogel Technologies is a US-based manufacturer of aerogels, with a key focus on its polymer aerogel range, Airloy, using a roll-to-roll continuous process.

Westwood Aerogel is a spin-out from UCLA. It is using its patent-pending ambient pressure drying process to scale aerogel manufacturing.

The automotive industry is under increasing scrutiny to improve sustainability, and one of the key approaches to addressing this is sustainable material choice. The automotive sector uses over 14 million tonnes of plastics in passenger automotive vehicles each year.

Element Zero is an Australian start-up developing an electrochemical technology for conversion of iron ore to iron via electrolysis.

Scope 3 emissions (indirect greenhouse gas emissions that occur in a company's value chain but are not produced by the company itself) are hard to quantify and even harder for businesses to reduce. The embodied carbon from construction can often be a significant contributor, with most of this CO2 coming from the cement used. This article explores three new green cement solutions that are increasingly enabling companies to decrease scope 3 CO2 emissions.

This premium article provides an overview of established applications of ion exchange materials in chemical processing, metal extraction, and manufacturing.

Electra (ElectraSteel Inc) is a US-based start-up developing an electrochemical green ironmaking technology for green steel applications.

Epishine is a Sweden-based organic photovoltaics (OPV) provider. The company specializes in OPV modules for indoor low-power electronics. IDTechEx spoke with Thomas Osterberg, R&D Director.

This premium article provides a comprehensive overview of market activities related to bioplastics in the automotive sector.

Metalysis is a UK-based company that has developed the FCC Cambridge process, a solid-state electrolysis technology for extracting metals directly from their solid oxides. The company produces pure metals and alloys in powdered form.

The electronics market is vast, with integrated circuits (ICs) being the third most traded product globally, presenting significant opportunities for sustainable electronics innovation. Action is currently being undertaken by many well-known electronics manufacturers to improve the sustainability and efficiency of their products. This includes water management strategies for semiconductor manufacturing, with over 500 billion liters of water used annually by the industry.

Achieving the strongest, thinnest, and most conductive graphene would require manufacturers to grow a perfect single layer, which can be tricky. Carbon nanotubes are another type of carbon allotrope with the same chemical formula as graphene but a different visible structure. IDTechEx explores multiple applications for graphene within the wider market, alongside other carbon allotropes that have their own unique qualities.

Boston Metal (formerly Boston Electrometallurgical Corporation) is a green ironmaking technology company founded in 2013, headquartered in Woburn, MA, with a subsidiary in Brazil. The company emerged from MIT and has developed a molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) technology for direct reduction of iron ore to iron using electricity. MOE can be integrated into steelmaking facilities.

The battery industry is facing increasing pressure to develop new chemistries and materials to keep up with rising energy density and sustainability demands. The traditional materials discovery process is both expensive and time-consuming. Machine learning methods, specifically materials informatics, could provide a necessary avenue for accelerating the battery development process.

A free collection of insights from our industry experts, sharing some of the key technology innovation trends shaping the next decade.

Plan Optik AG, a German-based company established in 1972, has positioned itself as a prominent player in the field of high-precision glass substrate manufacturing. Plan Optik specializes in producing structured wafers made from glass, glass-silicon compounds, and quartz.