Research Articles

The medical sector is one of the largest spaces where 3D printing operates, with opportunities for implant customization, educational models, and drug manufacturing.

People with diabetes have long been at the forefront of adopting digital health technologies, using digital platforms to seek out support, information about their condition, and to better understand the data that comes from managing it. The growing integration of wearable sensors and device data into digital health apps provides people with diabetes support right at their fingertips.

Decarbonization regulations are a primary driver of vehicle electrification globally. This article examines key sectors within this market and explores future prospects.

In this article, IDTechEx explores how semiconductor manufacturing holds the key to enabling the low-cost mass production of quantum sensors.

Perovskite PV has garnered significant industry interest due to its high efficiency, scalable manufacturing, and relatively low material costs. However, durability challenges have long stalled its commercialization. Now, several pilot and small commercial scale perovskite solar projects are underway, with many companies achieving panel lifetimes over 10 years and steadily bridging the gap to the 25-year target.

With approximately 90 million vehicles sold worldwide in 2023, the car market is the biggest transport sector. 14.4 million electric vehicle sales were made in 2023, jumping to 18.1 million in 2024, highlighting a fast-growing market with scope for EV manufacturers to continue to establish themselves further.

Thursday 10 April 2025 - Integration of In-Cabin Sensors Into Software-Defined Vehicles and AI Features; An overview of regulations in Europe, China, USA, and Japan, and how regulations affect the adoption rate of in-cabin sensing technologies; An analysis of different in-cabin sensor technologies and the future trends; A key summary and analysis of how AI and vehicle software are linked with in-cabin sensors; Market opportunities and forecast overview

With record-breaking carbon credit sales in 2024 and increasing overlap of voluntary and compliance carbon markets, the business case for carbon dioxide removal is growing stronger. IDTechEx forecasts the carbon credit market revenue from durable, engineered carbon dioxide removal technologies will exceed US$14 billion in 2035.

Worldwide, 830 million people were reported to have diabetes in 2022. Diabetes management is, therefore, a vital technology sector due to the complications that can occur as a result of the condition, the importance of which is highlighted by the market's multi-billion-dollar value.

IDTechEx analysts attended Data Centre World in London as part of ongoing data center sustainability and thermal management research. This article highlights three insights from the event.

Miniaturization and increased capability are two of the main current trends within 3D electronics, which creates an opportunity for in-mold electronics (IME) to prove its capabilities as a new way to streamline products and create new aesthetics.

Wednesday 9 April 2025 - Driving E-Mobility Forward: How EVs Are Shining a Spotlight on Aerogels; An introduction to aerogels; Factors and regulations driving the increased focus on fire safety in EVs; Comparison of aerogel material types as EV fire protection materials and comparison with other fire protection materials; Market status and outlook for future market share of aerogels in EV applications

Sodium-ion batteries share similar electrochemical principles with lithium-ion but differ in cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes, with ongoing development in cost-effective sodium-based alternatives. While sodium-ion technology faces challenges in achieving cost-competitiveness with lithium-ion, advancements in engineering and material innovation could enable it to serve as a complementary solution in specific applications.

Solid-state batteries are emerging as a promising solution for advanced energy storage, offering a unique balance of performance characteristics that make them suitable for a wide range of applications. However, their widespread adoption will depend on overcoming challenges such as scalability, cost reduction, and addressing interfacial issues between the solid electrolyte and electrodes.

The renewable energy landscape is evolving rapidly, with solar power leading the way. In 2023, global investments in solar energy reportedly surpassed all other power generation sources—including oil—for the first time. This article details the major growth factors for the thin film photovoltaics market, including the emerging technologies and application areas.

Photovoltaic technologies are gaining momentum as a result of solar power being one of the fastest-growing renewable energy sources across the world. In 2021, solar installations were seen to overtake wind generation, and in 2023, approximately 450GW of new solar capacity was recorded.

The global passenger car market is witnessing a pivotal shift in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), with Level 2+ (L2+) technologies rapidly outpacing Level 3 (L3) deployments. IDTechEx forecasts significant growth, with L2+/L3 revenues in Europe projected to exceed US$4 billion by 2042.

Automotive and battery OEMs are responsible for collecting retired batteries, which is where the second-life battery value chain begins. Recycling processes may see critical raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel reclaimed by OEMs. However, the already somewhat established relationship between recyclers and manufacturers may prove tricky for repurposing companies to interrupt.

The automotive industry is often an early adopter of luxury products, where both the increased performance and convenience are selling points to consumers. Self-healing materials can be used in a range of automotive applications, including tires, paints, and coatings. Use cases even extend to asphalt road surfaces, where damage can lead to issues for vehicles and drivers.

Front and side radars serve distinct yet complementary roles in ADAS, making them essential for autonomous vehicles. IDTechEx explores the latest radar developments and explores autonomy leveling up, with Level 2+ asserting itself within the US and Europe's autonomous vehicle markets.

IDTechEx discusses the pros and cons of composite EV battery covers, as well as innovations, current market adoption and an outlook for future adoption.

Lithium metal batteries will form a significant portion of next-generation electric vehicle batteries. However, increasingly, lithium metal battery developers are taking the anode-less approach, constructing cells without lithium metal foils at the anode to reduce costs. Anode-less designs are poised to become a primary focus of commercialization for lithium metal battery developers.

Thursday 3 April 2025 - Understanding the Critical Materials in Lithium-Ion Batteries: Trends in Demand, Supply, and Sustainability; An overview of materials in lithium-ion batteries; Critical battery materials demand trends; Trends in battery mineral mining and extraction; Carbon emission profiles of battery raw materials; Global raw materials supply outlooks; The prospects of deep-sea mining

Parallel computer architectures, such as those deployed for modern high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, frequently encounter memory bottlenecks that limit performance, known as the 'memory wall'. IDTechEx assesses the key developments and trends in memory and storage technologies, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM), DDR, NAND, and many more.

Quantum sensors get their name from their ability to measure on a quantum scale the smallest known parts of the universe, including atoms and other tiny particles, some of which were unknown before the introduction of this technology. IDTechEx's report, "Quantum Sensors Market 2025-2045: Technology, Trends, Players, Forecasts" provides an in-depth analysis of the technology by type and application, forecasting the quantum sensor market to reach US$2.2 billion in 2045, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.4%.

While battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continue to grow in model availability, sales numbers, and available charging infrastructure, the same cannot be said about fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). IDTechEx reviews the on-road fuel cell electric vehicle market and assesses whether passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, buses, and medium and heavy-duty trucks will use fuel cell technology in 20 years.

Data centers can be likened to an ecosystem of computing facilities that contain many facets required to store and handle data. IDTechEx's latest report, "Sustainability for Data Centers 2025-2035: Green Technologies, Market Forecasts, and Players", unpacks efforts being made in the data center sector towards increased sustainability in response to the rising CO2 emissions from the development of AI.

Since 2020, the emergence of aerogels as a fire protection material for electric vehicle (EV) batteries has provided a new and rapidly growing opportunity for the aerogel market. According to the latest IDTechEx market report, "Aerogels 2025-2035: Technology, Market, Forecasts", the adoption in EV thermal barriers has helped drive the aerogels market to exceed US$1 billion in 2025.

The automotive industry faces increasing pressure to improve sustainability, with material choice at the forefront of this transformation. With over 14 million tonnes of plastics used in passenger vehicles each year, addressing the sustainability of these materials is critical. Two leading solutions are recycled plastics and bioplastics. But what is the future of sustainable cars?

EV adoption is taking off, but regulation remains the driving factor behind the shift from traditional ICE vehicles in many cases. However, governments and OEMs are adjusting their EV targets amid a challenging market situation. How will these changes affect the growth of EV sectors and markets?

Wearables, including medical devices, hearables, XR, and smartwatches, will be the main drivers for flexible battery developments - specifically bulk batteries. Companies are looking for new features and form factors from batteries to best suit the development of smaller and lighter devices, particularly in the medical and fitness sectors, where the Internet of Things and interconnected devices will become a large part of remote patient monitoring and health tracking.

How electric 2-wheelers (E2Ws) are used and how their batteries are designed is very different from the car market. IDTechEx's report, "Fire Protection Materials for EV Batteries 2025-2035: Markets, Trends, and Forecasts", finds that the market for fire protection materials in E2Ws will grow by 12 times compared to its 2024 size.

Chiplets allow for GPU, CPU, and IO components to become miniaturized to suit the rise of smaller and more compact devices and hardware and can bring about a means of integrating various functions into a more simplified, unified design.

As regulatory frameworks such as the EU's Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) near enforcement, automotive OEMs increasingly integrate in-cabin sensing technologies with software-defined vehicle architectures. This shift, evident at CES 2025, marks a pivotal moment in the automotive industry as OEMs leverage existing hardware—such as infrared and RGB cameras—to develop new revenue streams and enhance user experiences.

As the United States withdraws from the 2015 Paris Agreement, which established globally shared goals that pledged to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, concerns about the future of sustainable technologies are growing. However, IDTechEx identifies key areas where sustainable growth can remain a reality.

Key trends are emerging that suggest where the second-life battery market will develop and what applications these technologies will be used for. As written in their recently updated market report, "Second-life Electric Vehicle Batteries 2025-2035: Markets, Forecasts, Players, and Technologies", IDTechEx predicts that by 2035, the global second-life EV battery market will be valued at US$4.2 billion.