Advanced Materials

NANOPAINT is a technology-based company which develops and supplies functional inks for the production of printed and flexible sensors. We offer piezoresistive, piezoelectric, magnetic and magnetoelectric inks which can be customized for a specific printing technique.

Feel the Same / HiFlex are a company and product from a Korean startup. They are based on the capabilities of liquid metal-based stretch sensors which they have developed. IDTechEx interviewed Joonbum Bae and Wookeun Park, CEO and Head Researcher - Advanced Technology Department, respectively.

SAFI-Tech are an early stage company that has developed a revolutionary approach to low temperature soldering. This involves confining super-cooled liquid solder within a primarily oxide shell, which enables it to flow at ambient temperature when the shell is broken. This has especially useful in attaching components to lightweight flexible substrates.

At the heart of any electronic device is a cold, hard computer chip, covered in a miniature city of transistors and other semiconducting elements. Because computer chips are rigid, the electronic devices that they power, such as our smartphones, laptops, watches, and televisions, are similarly inflexible. Now a process developed by engineers may be the key to manufacturing flexible electronics with multiple functionalities in a cost-effective way.

In this article, IDTechEx highlight the trends, challenges, and innovation opportunities, shedding light on the likely technology roadmap towards QLED.

Dr Youn Su Kim, part of the Professional-Advanced Materials Team at LG Electronics interviewed by IDTechEx Principle Analyst Dr Richard Collins talks about Graphene.

Graphene is a paradox: it is the thinnest material known to science, yet also one of the strongest. Now, research shows that graphene is also highly resistant to fatigue — able to withstand more than a billion cycles of high stress before it breaks.

QustomDot is a young start-up from the Ghent University in Belgium. They are making InP-based QDs with 43-44nm FWHM. This is still wide compared to the state-of-the-art and the best-in-class commercial results.

NovaCentrix has developed photonic curing/sintering, which enables conductive inks and solder to be heated without damaging the substrate. This facilitates printing conductive inks and soldering components onto cheap flexible substrates such as PET rather than requiring expensive temperature-resistant substrates.

Alpha is the market leader in providing surface mount technology (SMT) solutions, which includes solder in various forms along with conductive adhesives. This profile primarily focuses on a new product that is highly relevant for printed/flexible electronics, specifically low temperature solder. This should facilitate attaching components to low-cost, flexible, transparent substrates such as PET.

Innovations in Large Area Electronics 2020 IDTechEx attended InnoLAE 2020 (Innovations in Large-Area Electronics Conference), which is held each year just outside Cambridge, UK. The conference aims to 'bridges the gap between academia and industry', in the field of printed/large area/alternative electronics. Approximately half the attendees are from academia, with the rest from (primarily) small material suppliers and university spin-out companies.

219 worked with DuPont to develop a custom-designed drone built with advanced technology.

At CES 2020, IDTechEx met with XYZ who demonstrated a wide range of 3D printing equipment at their booth.

At CES 2020 IDTechEx met with PEEL 3D, a brand from Creaform. Peel3D is the entry level brand for the Creaform group.

That banana peel, turned into graphene, can help facilitate a massive reduction of the environmental impact of concrete and other building materials. While you're at it, toss in those plastic empties.

IDTechEx analysts visited Aixtron in the UK. Aixtron are a ca 300mEUR revenue company that specialise in CVD equipment for multiple sectors. Their core technology is atmospheric pressure MOCVD using a close coupled showerhead process.

At CES 2020 Royole Corporation showcased a variety of their flexible OLED displays.

Circuit Scribe describe their history as follows: Circuit Scribe began during the founders PhD research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. During this research, the founders developed a non-toxic conductive ink that was able to be integrated into a rollerball pen.

IDTechEx met with Peter Kurstjens and Oliver Glenz, CEO and BD Director (respectively) of Aito.

IDTechEx interviewed Takehiko Kanzaki, Project Manager in the e-Rubber Division at Toyoda Gosei.