Advanced Materials

Villinger R&D have developed a semi-conductive polymer coating. Markus Villinger (CEO) was interviewed by IDTechEx technology analyst Dr Richard Collins.

Continuous Composites has developed a continuous fiber 3D Printing (CF3D) process. Tyler Alvarado (CEO) spoke with technology analyst Dr Richard Collins.

Dyes that are also of great interest for organic electronics have recently been prepared and crystallised. All that is required is just water, albeit under highly unusual conditions.

The term machine vision describes a group of technologies that enable a machine to see via imaging for the purpose of process automation, and often refers to industrial vision systems. Applications of machine vision include automated product inspection and vision guided robotics. Here we consider four technology types: illuminating, sensing, processing and learning.

It's been some time in the making but now undoubtedly printed electronics is being pursued as a differentiator and enabler by many industry verticals. Organizations from several verticals are coming together to present their progress adopting printed electronics at the world's largest event on the topic - the IDTechEx Printed Electronics USA conference and exhibition, hosted in Santa Clara on November 14-15.

IDTechEx Analyst, Dr Richard Collins gives a brief overview on the aerospace materials industry, covering composites, light weighting, metal alloys, nano-carbons and additive manufacturing.

Rebar graphene is the nanoscale analog of rebar (reinforcement bars) in concrete, in which embedded steel bars enhance the material's strength and durability. Rebar graphene, developed by the Rice lab of chemist James Tour in 2014, uses carbon nanotubes for reinforcement.

The University of Central Lancashire has unveiled the world's first graphene skinned plane at an internationally renowned air show.

The IDTechEx Launchpad initiative is open to early-stage start-ups, universities, newly spun-out companies, research labs and government labs who can demonstrate a working prototype or product that highlights new advances in any of the related event topics of: 3d printing, electric vehicles, energy storage, graphene, internet of things, printed electronics, sensors, or wearable technology.

The 19th International Symposium on Laser Precision Microfabrication (LPM 2018) was attended by IDTechEx technology analyst Dr Nilushi Wijeyasinghe. LPM 2018 is a laser conference that is accompanied by an exhibition. The event took place in Edinburgh (UK) this year and was organized by the UK-based Association of Industrial Laser Users (AILU). There was a strong presence from both academia and industry. The event covered a variety of laser microfabrication topics. This article highlights several innovations and applications from the exhibition.

Organic photovoltaics were once considered the next generation of photovoltaic technology. They had huge hype because they had a seductive value proposition: R2R printing of high-performance, robust and flexible solar cells over large areas using low-cost materials and low CapEx high-throughput equipment. progress

Researchers present a technique to produce large quantities of pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes in select shades of the rainbow. The secret is a fine-tuned fabrication process—and a small dose of CO2.

Sodium-ion batteries have potential to replace the currently used lithium-ion batteries by using the cheaper (less than a thirtieth of the cost of lithium) and more abundant sodium resource. This has particular potential in Saudi Arabia, where sodium is readily available and easily extracted as a byproduct of water desalination, a significant source of potable water in the country.

Existing photovoltaic technology is not fully capable of realizing the promise of sustainable solar energy. Commercial and emerging photovoltaic technologies require energy-intensive extracting and manufacturing processes and often require metals like tin that generate social conflict and environmental harm with their mining. Slave and child labor, along with rampant environmental destruction and pollution are widespread in the tin mining industry, which in some places is even controlled by militias to fund wars.

IDTechEx analysts report on their findings at LASYS: Industrial Laser Exhibition.

Digital computation has rendered nearly all forms of analog computation obsolete since as far back as the 1950s. However, there is one major exception that rivals the computational power of the most advanced digital devices: the human brain.

This article sets out to show that the assumption that QDs are a stagnant technology would be very wrong, demonstrating that QDs have now entered a time of growth, and crucially, rapid technological change.

ChromoGenics was founded in 2003, spun out from Uppsala University of Sweden, and is a provider of a unique, highly flexible electrochromic films with exiting applications in BIPV and transport.

IDTechEx interviewed Mário Brito, Chief Commercial Officer at Smart Innovation. They are a Portuguese company that have developed a technique using silica particles to introduce new properties to materials such as textiles and paints.

This premium article will give some of the key conversations with the most technically innovative companies that IDTechEx analysts spoke while at the show.