Research Articles

The 5G market is expanding rapidly, with the first installations already being demonstrated. The increasing deployment of 5G will generate innovation and growth opportunities in thermal management.

Thermal management of batteries for electric vehicles is a crucial issue. It is important not only for safety and thermal runaway prevention, but also for the performance and longevity of the battery.

A Revolution in Affordable Ultra-Precision? The developments in agricultural robotics, machine vision, and AI will drive a deep and far-reaching transformation of the way farming is carried out.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the automotive industry has been hit hard by shutdowns of factories and sales around the world. The pandemic has slowed down global car sales and is shifting consumer behaviours in travel. Over the long term, COVID-19 could have a lasting impact on the mobility landscape.

Which Is Better for the Environment? In recent years, plastic production has accelerated, with global plastic set production to reach 600 million tonnes by 2030 if production continues at its current rate of growth. Most of this plastic is not biodegradable, with 30-50% of it being produced for single-use applications.

In the next decade, digital water technologies will be the next big innovation. With an industry predicted to be over $2Bn in 2030, this is a wide-reaching opportunity for many and a market which has a global impact.

Humans have been manipulating the DNA of the organisms around us in agriculture for thousands of years, using selective breeding to create sweeter fruit, hardier grains, cows that produce more milk, and many more valuable traits.

Fuel cells able to convert hydrogen into electricity are called to play an important role in the energy transition towards a future with zero-emissions.

Picture a flexible circuit board (FPCB) and you will almost inevitably visualise a sheet of orange/brown plastic, probably with a few copper traces and maybe some soldered components on it. This plastic is PI (polyimide/Kapton), and its ubiquity is primarily due to its temperature resistance and general durability.

Materials suppliers need to appraise opportunities at all power levels of energy harvesting. Those developing, making and using harvesters providing microwatts to GW need to see the big picture and how they can expand into it.

A recent article by IDTechEx Principal Analyst, James Hayward, written on the need to update e-textiles' traditional mantra which implies that "technology + comfort = success".

By 2030, $20Bn of the AR/VR market are expected to be standalone-AR devices. As a result, will augmented reality become the next leader for sports metrics?

2019 saw the largest single year growth rate for wearable technology product revenue since 2015

In this webinar, IDTechEx Senior Technology Analyst Dr Nadia Tsao will review the branches of digital health and provide updates on how they have been affected by COVID-19.

In this webinar IDTechEx Chairman, Dr Peter Harrop, describes a large new opportunity for added value materials suppliers. Electronics and electrics are moving from components-in-a-box to user "edit-able" composites, stretchable film and even paint.

With the rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), the demand for Li-ion batteries will grow significantly in the coming decades. In the meanwhile, as EV batteries begin to reach their end-of-life, we will see an exponential growth of retired Li-ion batteries coming out of vehicles.

5G is considered as one of the largest market opportunities in the coming years, with large scale roll-out of infrastructures and rapid adoption of 5G devices and services. 5G will not only accelerate the growth and expansion of telecom; it will also redefine and accelerate industries such as automotive, entertainment, computing, and manufacturing.

Asked to picture a printed sensor, you might well imagine a paper test strip for measuring blood glucose concentration. After all, such test strips comprise the majority of the printed sensor market, with billions used each year by diabetics around the world. However, this ubiquitous application masks a highly complex, fragmented and in some cases rapidly growing market that spans applications ranging from image sensing to wearable electrodes.

3D bioprinting provides scientists with the unique ability to create artificial tissue that closely resembles native tissue in form and function. A method of tissue engineering, 3D bioprinting is the precise deposition of cells, typically layer-by-layer, to realize a final 3D construct. Over the years, 3D bioprinting has seen increased adoption as a research tool and as a method for tissue engineering in regenerative medicine.

In this webinar, IDTechEx Senior Technology Analyst Dr Nadia Tsao will cover: Megatrends driving skin analysis technologies, Key market segments for skin analysis technologies, How skin analysis technologies can help companies in and post-COVID, Outlook for the industry and market forecast to 2030, and much more.

Once every ten years the promising future of a hydrogen economy and fuel cells is announced. Hydrogen over the years has had several periods of hypes, which always blow off as nothing concrete, but why are we still talking about it? And why is there still the belief of a hydrogen economy, when Li-ion batteries are dominating the market?

HP entries into the 3D Printing world have been significant. With both the release of their Jet Fusion and Metal Jet systems they have made waves in the industry. In a press briefing on 4th June 2019 the company announced they are "doubling down" on their progress in digital manufacturing with a string of announcements.

Materials Informatics is the key to enabling a paradigm shift in our approach to materials science R&D. Significant investment, notable adoption from key end-users, and technology leaps make it evident that it's time has come. Through primary-interview based analysis, IDTechEx has introduced the most comprehensive market report on the topic: "Materials Informatics 2020-2030".

In this webinar, IDTechEx Technology Analyst Daniele Gatti, will provide a complete overview of the hydrogen economy, and technical specifics of fuel cells and electrolysers.

Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) will drive a deep and transformative change in the agricultural world during the coming decades. Seeing, localising, and taking plant-specific intelligent action are no longer the exclusive realm of humans.

IDTechEx, host of the world's largest event series on Printed & Flexible Electronics, broadcast this virtual event last week featuring Coca-Cola, Swarovski, Electrolux, Neotech AMT, Ynvisible, Roartis and IDTechEx. Watch on-demand.

In this webinar, presented by IDTechEx Principal Analyst Dr Xiaoxi He, will give an introduction of micro-LED displays and things you should know about them. We will talk about 2-3 technologies involved in micro-LED fabrication with more details.

The webinar will provide updates across each product type within wearables, confirming 2019 shipment data and reviewing the historic market trend that has brought us into 2020, and then discussing the significant impact which COVID-19 is having in each sector.

This webinar, presented by IDTechEx Technology Analyst Daniele Gatti, will provide an introduction to Redox Flow Batteries (RFBs), addressing some of the technologies developed, and giving an overview of the flow battery market.

Flexible hybrid electronic (FHE) promises to combine the functionality of conventional rigid electronics with the flexibility of printed electronics. A prototypical FHE circuit, in which an integrated circuit is combined with multiple other elements, includes (for example) printed sensors, an antenna, a thin film battery and even thin film PV. Not all components need to be included, or even printed, for a circuit to count as FHE, but it must include as a minimum both printed and placed functionality.

In this webinar, Dr Na Jiao provides an overview of the autonomous car and robotaxi market. Dr Jiao is a technology analyst at IDTechEx focusing on autonomous mobility, electric vehicles and energy storage related areas.

Recently the versatility of mixed and augmented reality products has come to the forefront of the news, with an Imperial led project at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Doctors have been wearing the Microsoft Hololens headsets whilst working on the front lines of the COVID pandemic, to aid them in their care for their patients.

An important new trend is buying electrics and electronics you customise to function not just shape. See the new IDTechEx report, "Complete Electronics as Smart Material, User-Customized 2020-2040". Builders, textile manufacturers, those doing home improvement and others are starting to buy electrically-smart materials direct from materials companies, bypassing the electronics industry.

Water and wastewater industries and networks are everywhere. They supply homes, businesses and industries. They are one of the most important infrastructures in many countries. Yet they are not monitored as closely as other utilities industries. However, change is coming. There are many new sensors and products available which can provide a greater insight into this large and wide-ranging industry.

In the over one hundred electric vehicle sectors tracked by IDTechEx, we predominantly foresee a transition partly or completely to a traction battery over the next two decades. The case is not so simple for the marine sector: due to the sheer scale of the power, energy and distance requirements for many vessels, reducing maritime emissions will require solutions varying from batteries and fuel cells to premium fuels, scrubbers and slow-steaming.

Bioplastics, polymers derived from biological feedstocks, are a potential solution to the environmental problems caused by plastic - they are made from renewable resources and often biodegrade. Despite this, bioplastics have historically struggled to compete with fossil-based plastics, which are often far cheaper. But, are things beginning to change?