Research Articles

Thursday 17 August 2023 - An introduction to FHE, including motivating factors; Discussion of recent innovations and commercial developments within FHE; Identification of technological gaps and potential solutions; A roadmap for how the industry will develop, spanning both technologies and applications.

Can electronics be additively manufactured and flexible without compromising on the capabilities of conventionally produced integrated circuits (ICs)? Often described as 'print what you can, place what you can't', flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) offers an enticing blend of capabilities, enabling rapid prototyping, flexibility/stretchability, and roll-to-roll manufacturing of circuits with conventional ICs.

Thursday 3 August 2023 - Materials and Processing Trends for 2.5D and 3D Semiconductor Packaging; An overview of advanced semiconductor packaging technology: landscape and development; Manufacturing methods and dielectric materials choice for 2.5D packaging; A review of 3D Cu-Cu bonding packaging technology: materials and manufacturing processes barriers and future trend

How far is printed/flexible electronics along the road to widespread adoption? The emerging manufacturing methodology, which replaces etched copper laminate with printed conductive inks on flexible substrates, offers multiple benefits, including flexibility/stretchability, the potential for low-cost roll-to-roll production, digital manufacturing/rapid prototyping, and improved sustainability.

A historic moment was marked in 2023 in Paris, France, as United Nations delegates from 180 countries convened to discuss a treaty to end global plastic pollution. In early June 2023, it was announced that these delegates had taken the first step towards a legally binding treaty to regulate plastics that could come into effect by 2025.

The sustainability, design, and recovery of electric vehicle (EV) batteries are set to be overhauled thanks to the approval of the EU's new regulations governing the battery market. In June 2023, parliament approved new regulations that set out battery requirements, including a 'Battery Passport' and recovery of certain materials.

Les batteries au lithium-ion sont largement utilisées sur différents marchés, notamment dans l'électronique grand public, les véhicules électriques et le stockage stationnaire de l'énergie. Toutefois, comme la demande de batteries Li-ion continue d'augmenter, la nécessité de gérer leur durabilité tout au long de leur cycle de vie, y compris en fin de vie, devient également de plus en plus importante.

Wednesday 2 August 2023 - EV Charging for the Decade Ahead; State of public charging deployment in key regions; 800V platforms and wallbox DC chargers; Fleet charging solutions including megawatt charging; Battery swapping and wireless charging developments; Impact of government policies - AFIR (EU) and NEVI (USA)

La Commission européenne a proposé une{loi sur les matières premières|https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_1661} critiques afin de "garantir l'accès de l'UE à un approvisionnement sûr, diversifié, abordable et durable en matières premières critiques". Cette loi pourrait avoir d'importantes répercussions sur plusieurs technologies et marchés, mais l'un d'entre eux qui connaît une croissance rapide et dépend fortement des matières premières critiques est le marché des véhicules électriques (VE), et plus particulièrement des moteurs électriques.

With the continuous increase in the thermal design power (TDP) of chips, traditional air-cooling methods are struggling to meet the cooling requirements of modern hyperscale data centers. As a result, liquid cooling has emerged as a promising solution due to the high specific heat capacity of liquids.

Thursday 10 August - Introduction to the hydrogen economy and hydrogen's market drivers; Overview of low-carbon hydrogen production; Hydrogen storage & distribution pathways, players and applications; Overview and comparison of hydrogen end-use sectors and fuel cells; Outlook on the hydrogen economy

Thursday 20 July 2023 - Navigating the Liquid Cooling Dominance in Data Centers - An IDTechEx Roadmap; Air cooling: An overview of the traditional air-cooling approach and its benefits and limitations; Direct-to-chip/Cold Plate Cooling: An exploration of cooling methods that involve direct contact between the cooling medium and the chips or the use of cold plates; Immersion cooling: An examination of cooling techniques that utilize immersion of servers or components in dielectric fluids; Coolant comparison and regulations: A comparison of different coolants used in liquid cooling systems, along with relevant regulations; Single-phase and two-phase cooling: An analysis of single-phase and two-phase cooling methods and their applications in data centers; Thermal interface materials (TIMs): An overview of the importance of thermal interface materials in efficient heat transfer within cooling systems.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI), also known as hospital-acquired infections, are a major problem healthcare systems face worldwide. Each year, millions of patients contract infectious diseases while in hospital.

Thursday 27 July 2023 - Surging Demand for Lithium-Ion Batteries Driving the Carbon Nanotube Market. 10-year market outlook for CNTs; Analysis of CNT usage in the energy storage industry, including technology trends in LiBs and next generation batteries; Overview of other key applications; Discussion of key players and supply chain pain points; Emerging technologies incl. green feedstock

Alors que le monde progresse rapidement vers l'électrification, l'industrie du stockage de l'énergie est de plus en plus dépendante de matières premières essentielles telles que le lithium et le cobalt. La diversification des compositions chimiques des batteries est essentielle pour la croissance à long terme de la capacité.

There is no denying that silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are the story of the next decade for electric vehicle power electronics. The material improves powertrain efficiency (EV range), operates at higher voltages for faster charging, and creates new materials opportunities, such as Ag or Cu sintering, as power densities and operational temperatures increase.

The hydrogen economy envisions a future energy infrastructure where low-carbon hydrogen is utilized to decarbonize critical industrial sectors and long-haul transportation while satisfying the increasing demand for low-carbon energy.

The energy storage market is booming, driven predominantly by the electrification of the transportation sector. With the increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries (LiB), significant attention has been given to the supply chain of materials for LiBs beyond lithium itself. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are gaining traction as a conductive additive at the cathode of LiBs, paving the way for significant expansion in the CNT market.

In a recently published article, AI and Security: Ensuring That Opportunities Outweigh the Threats, IDTechEx discussed the importance of ownership and culpability when it comes to deploying AI tools, especially in the context of creative works. This matter of accountability and the potential insidious use of artificial intelligence in the creation of intellectual property is a theme touched on in the first episode of the new Black Mirror season, "Joan Is Awful".

For many decades there has been an extensive amount of materials science R&D focussed on developing next-generation gas separation membranes. However, to date, the market is still dominated by those polymeric materials that initially gained commercial adoption in the late 20th century.

Thursday 13 July 2023 - Electric Motors for EVs: Technology, Material, and Market Evolution. Current market landscape for electric motor technologies; Market drivers behind alternative materials; Methods to reduce or eliminate rare earths for both magnet free and permanent magnet motor designs; An update on the market progress of emerging motor technologies including axial flux, in-wheel, and modern switched reluctance motors; An outlook for the future of the electric motor technology

Following several decades of research and development, fuel cells are beginning to enable the promise of low-emission power generation, with specific success seen for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC).

The success of electric vehicles in the construction industry will largely be determined by battery prices being low enough that the total cost of ownership is cheaper than diesel alternatives.

This is a data-centric world. The growing amount of data generated in various industries increasingly drives the demand for high-bandwidth computing. Applications such as machine learning and AI require powerful processing capabilities, leading to the need for dense transistor placement on chips and compact interconnection bump pitches in packaging.

Anyone with access to social media platforms will likely have heard of ChatGPT by now. Created by OpenAI and released in November 2022, the generative AI tool had 100 million registered users as of three months after release, with it - the world's most advanced chatbot - being used to answer simple queries, write songs, and draft press releases, all with varying degrees of success.

By taking advantage of assembly line production, SMRs promise cost reductions and shorter construction times relative to their conventional counterparts. The first nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs) are already operational in Russia and China, but widening adoption will require both technical and regulatory developments, including development in fuel supply chains and international licensing standardization.

In this complimentary whitepaper, Dr Tess Skyrme outlines the specific applications for quantum computing within the automotive industry.

Wednesday 12 July 2023 - An introduction to printed and flexible electronics, including motivating factors; Assessment of product-market fit across the application space, including discussion of use cases seeing most commercial traction; A selection of recent innovations, spanning materials, components, and manufacturing methods; A roadmap for how the industry will develop, spanning both technologies and applications

Dans tous les secteurs des véhicules électriques terrestres suivis par IDTechEx, la transition vers des systèmes de propulsion électrique à batterie se fera principalement au cours des deux prochaines décennies. La situation n'est pas aussi simple dans le secteur maritime : en raison de l'ampleur des besoins des navires marchands en termes de puissance, d'énergie et de distance, la réduction des émissions maritimes nécessitera des solutions allant des systèmes de batteries Li-ion géantes aux piles à hydrogène vertes et à d'autres carburants alternatifs.

During the past few years, the global electric vehicle (EV) industry has experienced tremendous growth. Total global electric vehicle sales went from approximately 3.1 million in 2020 to over 9 million in 2022.

Thursday 6 July 2023 - Drivers and constraints of Li-ion battery recycling; Value chain and economics of Li-ion battery recycling; Policies and regulation overview in different regions; Technologies used in this market, including hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy and direct recycling; Introduction to market analysis and future global recycling facility expansions

The cultured meat industry passed a key milestone in June 2023 - two companies, GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods, received approval to begin the commercialization of their cultivated chicken products in the USA.

Walk around the aisles of a local shop: aside from the prices, little has changed since the introduction of the bar code in the 1970s. While customers have smartphones in their pockets and there are sophisticated inventory management systems in the background, the digital revolution has yet to alter the packaging of most consumer items.

Sony recently announced 'Project Q', comprising the development of a hand-held PlayStation and corresponding high-end earbuds. The inclusion of earbuds initially seems surprising since headphones and earphones are amongst the most mature in the near hundred billion-dollar wearables market.

Wednesday 5 July 2023 - Learnings From the COVID-19 Pandemic. What are the key antimicrobial technologies on the market today? What are the key applications for antimicrobial technologies, and what are the drivers? How do antimicrobial technologies work? How do they provide residual protection against microorganisms? What product and market trends were observed during the COVID-19 pandemic? What can we expect in the next global pandemic?

Electric traction motors may have originally been developed in the 1800s, but the market continues to evolve today, with the growing electric vehicle (EV) market providing new technologies, opportunities, and demand.