Advanced Materials

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In the previous article we looked at the size of the RFID market and how printed electronics was impacting the manufacturing of antennas for RFID tags. In this article, IDTechEx explores the latest progress in replacing the silicon chip in an RFID tag.

Researchers have introduced and modeled an integrated circuit design scheme in which transistors and interconnects are monolithically patterned seamlessly on a sheet of graphene, a 2-dimensional plane of carbon atoms.

Daicel Corporation is a Japanese corporation. They have a programme on producing silver nanoparticle inks aimed at a variety of different printing techniques. They are targeting the sections of the market that require high conductivity and low sintering temperature.

Small organisations with lean cost structures are leading the way in the silver nanoparticle space. They can survive despite the low global demand today. Many large corporations have acquired the silver nanoparticle production and formulation technology but are looking for volumes before they enter. This is in complete contrast to the state of the market in the traditional silver flake paste business where large corporations dominate the scenesThe silver nanoparticle business landscape may be transformed if large organisations swing into the full commercialisation mode in the medium term. The technology has room for further cost reduction as economies of scale are lacking today (despite globally over-capacity). This article assess the existing business landscape for both silver paste, silver nanoparticles as well as several silver alternatives. It also lists and categorises more than 83 producers and developers of conductive paste/inks by technology and territory.

Epigem is a privately-held company whose business model is to act as a foundry for microfluidics and transparent conductive film. They started their work on transparent conductive films in 1996/1997 and can use both photolithography and embossing to create metal mesh TCFs.

Applied Graphene Materials, a UK based graphene manufacturer,has announced its intention to raise funds and to seek admission of its ordinary shares to trading on AIM.

Supercapacitors are a curiously neglected aspect of electronics and electrical engineering with a multi-billion dollar market rapidly emerging.

The Graphene LIVE! USA event has lined up top-class speakers for its business-orientated conference and tradeshow on graphene.

Barrier films are required to extend the lifetime of many organic devices including OLED lighting and organic photovoltaics. Currently, the absence of a cost-competitive, high-performance and flexible barrier on the market means that these technologies are stripped of one of their primary differentiators and selling points: flexibility.

Unprecedented feat points toward a new generation of energy-efficient electronics.

Fujifilm and imec have developed a new photoresist technology that enables submicron patterning on large-size substrates without damaging the organic semiconductor materials.

Promethean Particles design, develop and manufacture inorganic nanoparticle dispersions to customer's specifications. The company uses continuous hydrothermal synthesis to make the desired product for each application and backs this up with large scale manufacturing capability (currently up to 10 tonnes per year with a 1000 TPA plant build underway).

The company was formed in 2008 and is head-quartered in Cambridge, UK. It is a small company working on a range of technologies, including low temperature conductive inks, graphene inks and laser-nduced transfer for printing electronic devices (LITPED)

Nanotech and Beyond N&B was formed in 2010. It is based in Korea. In 2011 it developed an ITO alternative material for transparent electrodes for touch screen panels. In 2012 the company developed silver nanowires.

InkTec was formed in 1992. It has 375 staff, of which 80 are involved in R&D. The company had annual sales last years of $74.8million and is a publicly listed company. The company is very active in printed electronics, offering a variety of conductive inks as well as printing services.

IDTechEx has spent almost two weeks in Korea visiting executives at leading companies and attending conferences. Company profiles will be given in our Market Intelligence Portal over the coming weeks. In this article we summarise some of our observations from the country.

Vinci Technologies are developing a measuring instrument for water vapour permeation.

Hicel was founded in 1998. It is a supplier of parts to companies such as Samsung and LG. The company has three main activities: (1) Diffuser sheets for back lighting, (2) Printed electronics for electrodes and antennas, and (3) Other businesses including optical lenses and micro-restorer film.

Graphene Frontiers, a company developed through the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology Transfer, has been awarded a $744,600 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop roll-to-roll production of graphene, the "miracle material" at the heart of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.