Research Articles

The new IDTechEx report, "Airborne Wind Energy 2019-2039" comes just as new generation, zero emission electricity production approaches a tipping point. The new generation addresses the new world of distributed power for minigrids and microgrids and replacement of diesel gensets, so it is mobile with no infrastructure. Installation in one hundredth of the time and making electricity where it is needed without power lines across the horizon: what is there not to like?

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China has recently announced the pilot program of recycling and second use of retired electric vehicle batteries in 17 major regions and cities. China Tower, the world's biggest operator of telecommunication towers, is included as the only company in the pilot program to develop key technologies, explore business models and help establish standards related to second-life batteries.

Intelligent Health AI is a global summit dedicated to AI in healthcare. The analysts Dr Xiaoxi He and Dr Luyun Jiang attended the conference on 13-14th September 2018 held in Basel, Switzerland.

It took a decade and half to enable the first commercial products using flexible barrier or thin film encapsulation technologies. Contrary to some assumptions however, this success does not mean that the question of barrier technology is forever settled. Indeed, there is still much work to do to render flexible barrier technology a ubiquitous, widely-available, and low-cost component in devices of all sizes, sensitivity levels, flexibility degrees, and so on.

Hyundai Motor Group has recently announced a commercial partnership with energy company Wärtsilä to utilize second-life electric vehicle batteries for stationary energy storage at both commercial and utility scales. This is not the first piece of news that automotive companies are trying to give a second life to their retired EV batteries as major EV manufactures including Nissan, Renault, BMW, Daimler, BYD etc. have announced various battery second use projects around the world.

Graphene is not a young material: the Nobel Prize was awarded in 2010 and the first pioneering firms were established before that c. 2006. Graphene thus has more than a decade of commercial experience already. As IDTechEx have argued previously, after all this time, graphene is becoming increasingly available and affordable and is finally findings its first wave of volume markets. In this article, we will look at the evolution of graphene commercialization so far and will offer some insights about the future.

The end-of-life issue of electric vehicle batteries is a key topic in the sustainability of EVs. By 2029, there will be 3 million used battery packs coming out of EVs per year which amounts to around 108GWh available storage capacity (see the IDTechEx's latest report on Second-life Electric Vehicle Batteries). What will happen to this huge amount of retired car batteries?

Synthetic biology is making strides in key applications, armed with the ability to create materials never possible before.

Many consider quantum dots as the ultimate and ideal phosphor material. This is because quantum dots and phosphors both act as downconverters and therefore share many applications in lighting and displays.

The research hub is a collaborative effort between the aeronautics, chemical, civil, design and mechanical engineering as well as chemistry and materials science departments. According to the composites centre, the industry was worth £2bn in 2015 and is expected to reach £12bn by 2030.

IDTechEx visit the UbiQD exhibit at the IDTechEx Show! Europe 2018 to discuss their down shifting high energy light sources allowing for better energy absorption through their solar cells due to the altered wavelengths.

The new report from IDTechEx Research, Drones 2018-2038: Components, Technologies, Roadmaps, Market Forecasts, provides a comprehensive analysis of the drone market, considering components, technologies, application roadmaps and markets.

It is a technological megatrend providing billion dollar business opportunities. The unique new IDTechEx Research report "Smart Materials as Structural Electronics and Electrics 2019-2029" explains how structural materials can be electronically, electrically, mechanically, magnetically and optically smart nowadays.

Advanced Ceramic Fibers (ACF) manufacture specialty fibers for metal, polymer and ceramic matrix composites. Ken Koller (CEO/COO), Shawn Perkins (President), and John Garnier (Founder/CTO) spoke with IDTechEx technology analyst Richard Collins.

This article concerns TactoTek in Oulu Finland and how its technologies can scale up and create billion dollar businesses.

IDTechEx Technology Analyst Dr Nadia Tsao attended the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) World Congress 2018. The event was held between September 5 - 7, 2018 at the Kyoto International Conference Center in Kyoto, Japan. The World Congress is held every 3 years - chapter meetings (Europe, Americas, Asia Pacific) are held in the intervening years.

Advances in laser technologies over the past three decades have enabled lasers to progress from specialist scientific instruments to a diverse range of end-user markets. In this article, time periods where data storage and data communication segments dominated the laser diode market are coloured yellow, while the current era of emerging laser diode applications in material processing, sensing and healthcare is indicated by green shading in the charts.

Key areas discussed and displayed at the LCV event include the battery, powertrain, lightweighting, autonomous driving and electric vehicle charging, from not only the technology but also business model and policy perspectives.

IDTechEx Technology Analyst Dr Nadia Tsao attended the Taiwan International 3D Printing Show 2018. The event was held between 29 August - 1 September, 2018 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.

The CEO of Buzz Technology discusses their distributed manufacturing solution which allows for the creation of more socially conscious consumer products through robotics and 3D printing.

In this article, IDTechEx describe the emerging dynamic between the different QD approaches for displays: edge optic, film-type, color filter type, and on-chip- type. We will examine how, and when, these technologies are likely to commercially rise and fall.

The key next iteration for fiber reinforced polymer products will be the concept of multifunctionality. This is the idea of making a structural part carry out additional role(s) beyond their current primary mechanical task - the market for smart composite material is forecast to exceed 5 kilotons by 2029.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Wednesday 26 September titled Progress to the Foldable OLED Display.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 2 October titled Fuel Cell Vehicles

Technology Analyst, Dr Nadia Tsao, discusses reconstructive skin modelling with Dr Maïté Rielland, L'Oréal, who is focused on bioprinting human skin models for cosmetic evaluation.

After surfacing its Vespa Elettrica concept at EICMA last year, a large motorcycle trade show known for these sort of announcements from manufacturers, Piaggio finally announced that it will go to production this September, and that it will take preorders in October with the first deliveries later that month.

This is a technological megatrend. Dumb load-bearing metal structures move to plastic and composite and incorporate energy harvesting and storage material - massless energy. Indeed you could call some of it negative mass energy. Goodbye components-in-a-box.

Tongtai is an equipment manufacturer based in Taiwan. IDTechEx analyst Nadia Tsao stopped by the Tongtai booth at the Taiwan International 3D Printing Show 2018.

ITO alternative (TCFs) are no longer a young technology. They have been in the semi commercial mode for more than a decade and half. In that time, they have often come tantalising close to success, and in some instances, even carved out niche markets. Yet, they are still hoping for that great breakthrough. So why has the commercialization process been prolonged for so long?

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 20 September titled Smart City Opportunities.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Tuesday 25 September titled Electric two-wheelers: the EV underdog?

Mothership Aero started at August 2016. Mothership provides a relatively huge airship that might be able to carry heavy payloads and to generate power.

Kray Technologies provide drone spraying of agricultural fields and products.

Embever provide middleware to connect IoT to web applications and apps.

In April 2018, IDTechEx gave a presentation at the world copper conference in Santiago Chile. This was part of work carried out for the International Copper Association to benchmark the commercial status of emerging conductive material. The presentation delivered can be seen below.

The need for flexible, transparent, ultrahigh performance, and low-cost barriers has long held back the promise of many flexible devices. Indeed, for long, it appeared as the grand challenge, and a potential showstopper.