Advanced Materials

Since 3D Systems commercialized stereolithography 30 years ago, 3D printer manufacturers who invented their own proprietary technology predominantly followed the same business strategy: selling their printers to customers. Until recently, it was the norm for established and rising 3D printing players, both in metal and polymer additive manufacturing, to follow the same path.

Lips are famously sensual but, together with the gums and tongue, they are also surprisingly sensitive, second only to the fingertips in nerve density. Researchers have exploited this latter characteristic to devise a practical new way for people to receive tactile feedback in virtual worlds.

Researchers have discovered one-way superconductivity without magnetic fields, something that was thought to be impossible ever since its discovery in 1911 - up till now. The discovery makes use of 2D quantum materials and paves the way towards superconducting computing. Superconductors can make electronics hundreds of times faster, all with zero energy loss.

Tess Skyrme, Analyst at IDTechEx, interviewed Dr Richard Lee, CCO, and Tom Barlow, Business Development Manager, to get an update from early-stage company, Advanced Material Development, specifically on their innovations in 2D nano-materials, with applications including gas sensing, electronics, composites, photonics, and anti-counterfeiting.

Kayaku Advanced Materials has a wide portfolio of products for electronics across many applications. Examples of product areas and services that Kayaku Advanced Materials can provide include printed electronics, conductive inks, and other materials through PriElex, as well as parylene conformal coating, epoxy resins, and acting as a distributor into the US for DuPont. IDTechEx spoke to Kayaku Advanced Materials about a new coating technology aimed at the environmental protection of radar antenna. This area has been somewhat overlooked by the industry, but this new technology could offer a significant improvement in product longevity, particularly in harsh environments.

As electronics being increasingly ubiquitous, there is a clear trend toward greater integration. Rather than simply making space for a rigid 2D circuit board (PCB) within the product, electronic functionality will be either mounted conformally onto surfaces or incorporated within the structural materials.

Newlight Technologies is a US-based company that manufactures bioplastics from carbon dioxide, air, and methane using a microbial biocatalyst.

Single-use plastics account for between 30-50% of all plastic applications. Eliminating single-use plastics poses opportunities for alternative materials to supplant their applications. Materials that are biodegradable and home compostable, rather than requiring industrial composting, are particularly valuable. For this reason, there is much interest around plant polysaccharides as a source of biodegradable material. In this premium article, IDTechEx discusses three key polysaccharides derived from plants and seaweeds: nanocellulose, thermoplastic starch, and seaweed-derived hydrocolloids.

Blue Planet is a U.S.-based company developing carbon capture and utilization systems that mineralize carbon dioxide emissions into carbonate minerals with applications in the construction sector.

Existing therapies for healing wounds include dressings, negative pressure bandages, growth factor-based and anti-inflammatory drugs, debridement, and ultrasound treatments. But even under the best conditions, the average time for complete wound closure is 12 weeks using these methods.

CarbonBuilt is a US-based company developing a modular solution to permanently embed carbon dioxide from flue gas into precast concrete blocks.

New solar cell devices that are cheaper and easier to make could soon make their way to market thanks to materials. Traditional solar cells are made from silicon, which has good efficiency and stability, but is relatively expensive to make and can only be manufactured in stiff panels. Perovskite solar cells offer an intriguing alternative; they can be printed from inks, making them low cost, high efficiency, thin, lightweight and flexible.

Solidia is a US-based company developing carbon dioxide curing of precast concrete and lower carbon footprint cement mixtures.

DroneShield, based in Sydney, Australia, are a market leader in counter-drone protection, with a focus on AI-based platforms.

Fractal Antenna Systems, based in Massachusetts, USA, are a market leader in radio frequency and electromagnetic innovation.

The future certainly looks sunny for solar cells equipped with two electricity-generating semiconductors. With good reason - their potential efficiency is far higher than that of conventional single solar cells. They can also be lighter and more flexible, depending on their component materials.

Have you ever wondered if bacteria make distinctive sounds? If we could listen to bacteria, we would be able to know whether they are alive or not. When bacteria are killed using an antibiotic, those sounds would stop - unless of course the bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic. This is exactly what a team of researchers have managed to do: they captured low-level noise of a single bacterium using graphene.

EPC is a provider of power semiconductors using gallium nitride (GaN) technology. The key areas discussed with IDTechEx were the benefits of their GaN FETs (field-effect transistors) over the typical silicon MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors) for applications such as LiDAR and for low voltage electric motors.

Scientists have developed a new conductive ink for use in printed electronics with significantly improved resistance to oxidation. After this ink is printed, it self-organizes into a conductive pattern with a copper core-nickel shell nanostructure. Use of this cheaper, more stable ink may help popularize printed electronics.

Plasmonics Inc are a US-based company focusing on next-generation infrared technology. Services include electron-beam lithography, general fabrication capabilities, and infrared sensors and systems.