Research Articles

We have been following the graphene industry as analysts for the past seven years. The results of our ongoing research can be seen in our report on Graphene, 2D Materials and Carbon Nanotubes: Markets, Technologies and Opportunities 2018-2028. In this time, we have seen the industry grow in maturity.

It is a rule-of-thumb that manufacturers should vertically integrate only when products and markets mature, so they can confidently shave off the last pennies of cost. One exception is when shortages loom: Tesla built its battery gigafactory fast using proven Panasonic technology. However, many suppliers now build battery gigafactories.

We move to cities and do internet shopping: that destroys the market for private cars and boosts demand for buses and delivery trucks. Monster Class 8 trucks are top polluters on US highways, all powering a boom in energy storage in buses and trucks. The new IDTechEx report, "Energy Storage for Electric Buses and Trucks 2019-2029" analyses the similar requirements.

The British have studied the possibility of a Severn tidal barrage for 100 years and its government has turned it down again recently as seriously uneconomic. It

The IDTechEx Show! on April 10-11 in Berlin brings together eight key disruptive technologies and their customers at one venue.

The market composition of transparent conductive films and materials has not dramatically shifted for some years. It is heavily reliant upon select markets such as flat consumer small/medium sized electronic touch screens. Indeed, the IDTechEx Research report Transparent Conductive Films and Materials 2018-2028: Forecasts, Technologies, Players puts this reliance around 85-90% today. The emergence of new applications has also been slower than many had predicted and hoped. This report finds that so-called 'old' applications are still the vast majority of the market.

In this premium article below we cover some of the latest activities with printed, flexible batteries.

A large proportion of the cost, disruption, pollution and exposure to natural disasters in a city would be eliminated if there were no infrastructure.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 14 February titled A Market Outlook for the Aerogel Industry.

3D Printing of composites is becoming an increasingly explored commercial opportunity. Approaching this from two directions: the 3D Printing industry are looking for functional enhancements to assist industrial uptake and meanwhile the traditional composites industry is looking at ways to allow more design freedom, accelerate time to market, and reduce the costs for low-production volume.

The new IDTechEx Research report, "Electric Motors for Electric Vehicles: Land, Water, Air 2019-2029" measures how induction (asynchronous) motors are rapidly losing market share.

Hydroelectric power is by far the most successful form of so-called zero-emission production of electricity but it has a dark side.

3D printing is rapidly reaching industrial commercialisation in numerous sectors; IDTechEx forecast that the total market will be worth $22bn by 2028. One of the key features is the design freedom this technology enables where, alongside other functional advantages, a major opportunity is in lightweighting.

It is now clear that smart cities can be zero emission, quiet and make all their own clean water, food and electricity.

EV motors have lasted for over 100 years on boats and their design changed slowly. Now some last only a few years and they are subject to rapid technology change and an acquisition frenzy. What is going on? The new IDTechEx report, "Electric Motors for Electric Vehicles: Land, Water, Air 2019-2029" explains and - in over 30 ten-year forecasts and roadmaps - predicts.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 7 February titled The Transition to Electric and Hybrid Boats and Ships: Markets and Drivers.

IDTechEx is highly respected worldwide for its reports, relational databases, events and consultancy on the technology and markets for its chosen subjects. These include life sciences, energy storage, energy harvesting, electric vehicles, wearable technology and advanced materials. The emphasis is on using facts-based analysis to see the future and guide business decisions of our customers. They include the world's largest chemical, healthcare and automotive companies through to start ups. Our biggest events are in Silicon Valley and Germany and we serve organizations in 80 countries, with teaching forums and staff in Asia, USA and Europe.

For over 16 years IDTechEx analysts have studied the printed electronics market in all its guises - organic, flexible and hybrid electronics. There have been tremendous successes such as OLED displays and conductive ink for PV, touch screens and bio sensors. There has also been tremendous investment creating new enabling materials, processes and components that will enable new capabilities and differentiate and improve products.

In this brief slide deck, we briefly outline the key aspects and challenges of growing high-quality graphene as an electronic substrate. This could take the form of a film of graphene on a wafer or another substrate. Therefore, we will consider chemical vapour deposition as well as epitaxial growth. Here, we will also outline some of the R&D progress on this topic. This slide presentation will be the first of two presentations. The second one will consider the use of graphene as an electronic material.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 31 January titled Zero Emission Gensets - $100 Billion Opportunity.

The electric vehicle business will grow rapidly to over $1.5 billion in 2029, with the largest percentage being batteries. However, that percentage will peak with cost reduction and some being replaced by supercapacitors.

Healthcare electronics is rapidly deploying for wellness, electroceuticals, intrusive medical procedures and more, powered by new technologies.

In-mold electronics (IME) is a process of integrating printed decorations and electronic circuitry with thermoforming and molding.

The speech user interface landscape is changing, as described in IDTechEx's brand-new report "Voice, Speech, Conversation-Based User Interface 2019-2029: Technology, Player, Market".

IDTechEx Chairman, Dr Peter Harrop, discusses the rise of electric school buses with a focus on China and America

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 17 January titled Introduction to Bioelectronic Medicine.

The car makers are headed for trouble. IDTechEx Chairman Dr Peter Harrop discusses why.

Bekaert manufacture and process steel fibers for a wide range of applications - this has expanded into making multifunctional composites. IDTechEx technology analyst Dr Richard Collins interviewed Damien Feuillan (Innovation manager).

The on-road electric vehicle industry knows it is headed for a vicious fight to the death as the biggest category, private cars, collapses due to people moving to cities and nothing compensates for saturation of the Chinese electric bus market. In contrast, off-road EVs will be prosperous growth markets.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 10 January titled Airborne Wind Energy AWE Gets Serious.

In this slide presentation, we will first give a brief introduction to the basic operation of thin film transistors, also distinguishing them from wafer-based transistor technologies.

A polymer aerogel combines the benefits of an aerogel with the conveniences of a plastic (i.e., polymer).

NEO Tech AMT GmbH is one of the leading companies developing systems for 3D Printed Electronics (3D PE). The company installed the first 5 axis 3D PE system in 2010. Rapid advances lead to the first commercial installation for mass production for printed 3D circuits in mobile communications devices in 2015.

Quanergy is a leading provider of solid state LiDAR sensors and smart sensing solutions.

Zero Motorcycles have exhibited at the past two IDTechEx events, and typically showcase their sporty S and off-road DS models, as well as their impressive 45kW electric motors (designed from scratch in California and produced at a factory in China). This year, at the IDTechEx Show! in Santa Clara California, things were markedly different.

The brand new IDTechEx report 'Electric and Hybrid Boats and Ships 2019 - 2029' expects investment to accelerate after 2020. Since the early 2010s, sales of pure electric and hybrid vessels have grown steadily, mainly driven by the need to reduce local pollution of NOx, SOx and particulate matter in a handful of emission control areas (ECA) that are local to coastlines.