Research Articles

Surging battery demand is creating significant opportunities for raw material suppliers, particularly those adapting to battery-specific needs. Along the battery value chain, players are increasingly pursuing vertical integration strategies to capture greater value.

Lithium-ion batteries are a growing technology worldwide in line with the demand for electricity and regulations to lower emissions.

Webinar Title: Humanoid Robots: Early Adopters, Technologies, Challenges and Outlook Date: Tuesday 3 June 2025 Presenter: Yulin Wang, Senior Technology Analyst, IDTechEx

Self-healing materials have the ability to extend the lifespan of mission critical components such as energy storage devices, sensors and soft robotics. This article looks at some of the key materials developments, pain points and potential growth opportunities for self-healing materials in these emerging markets.

Humanoid and collaborative robots are two growing robotics technologies explored by IDTechEx in their portfolio of Robotics & Autonomy Research Reports. Senior Technology Analyst, Yulin Wang, will be speaking at the 2025 Humanoids Summit, covering details explored in depth in the IDTechEx report, "Humanoid Robots 2025-2035: Technologies, Markets and Opportunities".

Sodium-ion batteries offer a promising alternative to lithium-ion, with advantages in mineral abundance, system compatibility, and safety. They provide a cost-effective, scalable solution with lower material costs and reduced supply chain risks. Despite lower energy density, sodium-ion cells benefit from existing manufacturing infrastructure. Safety benefits include reduced fire risks and enhanced thermal stability. Key strategies for success include improving energy densities, competing on total cost of ownership, and targeting niche performance areas such as low temperature and high-power applications.

In-cabin sensing innovations from Tesla, Seeing Machines, and LG Electronics—leveraging radar, 3d cameras, and AI—are transforming vehicle safety and personalization, setting the stage for a US$6 billion market by 2035.

Thursday 5 June 2025 - AI Chips: Energy Consumption Concerns of Large AI Models, GPU Technologies, and the Shift to Custom Silicon; Demand and concerns about large AI models; Current trends in high-performance GPUs; Shift towards cloud service providers (CSPs) using custom silicon in AI data centers; Insights into IDTechEx's 10-year forecasts for the AI Chips market

Showcased by the surprise of surrounding workers, the unexpected actions of a humanoid robot in China demonstrates that this robotics application is still operating in early stages. However, despite being an immature technology, there is still much scope for success for humanoids.

Materials informatics is reshaping the landscape of materials research and development, bringing the full power of the data revolution to science and engineering. By leveraging AI, machine learning, and advanced analytics, materials informatics is accelerating discovery, streamlining development, and opening entirely new pathways for innovation.

Carbon capture technologies are mature and have existed for decades, but with the expense that comes with deploying them, there is little incentive for businesses to adopt them outside of carbon pricing regulations or tax incentives. CO2 utilization makes carbon capture viable outside of climate motivations because it allows the process to generate revenue.

While China is currently the leader in electric two-wheeler sales globally, this article highlights the key factors that will lead to India taking its place and becoming the next global superpower within the industry.

Fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) offer a new opportunity for the transport sector to significantly reduce emissions, with only water vapor being produced as a result of their operation.

In this article, IDTechEx examines the impact of three major trends; one technology-focused, one regional, and one macroeconomic - on metal additive manufacturing. These trends include the dominance of powder bed fusion, the story of the Chinese metal AM market, and the impact of tariffs.

Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence, which refers to the process of computers drawing conclusions from a dataset, which can be a powerful tool across various sectors, including the battery market.

Wednesday 4 June 2025 - How to Bottle a Star: IDTechEx Explores Commercial Fusion Energy; Review of the principles of fusion energy and the drivers behind the industry's rapid growth; Technical overview of the fusion energy market landscape; Analysis of the leading approaches to achieving commercial fusion; Discussion of the critical materials for fusion and the challenges for the supply chain of key components.

Manufacturing challenges and high costs have historically hindered the commercialization of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). However, with recent advancements in MOF-based carbon capture technologies and a projected 50-fold increase in demand for MOFs in carbon capture by 2035, this article explores how these innovations are poised to shape the future of MOFs.

Green cement technologies will avoid a further 422 megatonnes of CO₂ emissions by 2035, according to research from the IDTechEx market report "Decarbonization of Cement 2025-2035: Technologies, Market Forecasts, and Players" - https://www.IDTechEx.com/Cement. In this short video, Senior Technology Anayst Eve Pope talks through progress in cement decarbonization.

A German start-up has completed a test of an inflatable heat shield, the first European and first private such operation. Inflatable heat shields represent the cutting edge of thermal protection systems, potentially holding the key to truly low-cost and democratized access to space. What does this test mean for the industry?

Thursday 29 May 2025 - An overview of white biotechnology and its growing market opportunities; Exploration of major regulatory trends, including their impact on bioplastics such as PLA and PHAs; Insights into emerging technologies, such as AI-driven enzyme and protein engineering; Developments in fermentation and reactor systems aimed at improving biomanufacturing efficiency; Examination of persistent challenges, particularly around downstream processing (DSP); A forward-looking perspective on biomanufactured chemicals. IDTechEx's conclusions and strategic perspectives on the role of white biotechnology in a sustainable future

Cars that wirelessly charge on the move, AI assistants to schedule in-vehicle meetings, and radar technology for advancing safety all boast the growing intelligence of automotive technologies. IDTechEx's portfolio of Electric Vehicles and Robotics & Autonomy market research reports showcase the latest technologies bringing an engaging and forward-thinking future of driving into reality.

Despite ongoing regulatory uncertainty around PFAS in the US, the sealing industry faces pressure to find alternatives to PFAS-based materials used widely for their performance in demanding applications.

A future of sustainability that stretches across the planet, from CO₂-created diamonds and self-healing cities to deep ocean storage, could be reimagined with IDTechEx's large portfolio of sustainability market research. Finding new outlets for harmful gases, using robots to clean the streets, and opting for innovative methods to create clothing, food, and packaging could all allow the environment a chance to breathe.

This article discusses battery innovations in China and the role next-generation battery technologies play in improving battery performance and in enabling Europe and North America to build competitive battery industries.

As regulations get stricter around emissions targets, opting for electric trucks now could be a good investment for the future. By 2030, the EU aims to see a 45% reduction in truck emissions, which is expected to increase to 65% by 2035 and 90% by 2040.

Wednesday 28 May 2025 - The Future of Sustainable Chemicals: Next-Generation Feedstocks and Lignin Valorization; Conventional chemicals and decarbonization of the chemical industry; The potential of next-generation feedstocks as resources to produce sustainable chemicals; Lignocellulosic biomass as a feedstock for biochemicals: challenges and opportunities; New applications for lignin valorization enabled by new extraction technologies

IDTechEx explores the AI chip markets and key technologies seen in today's AI data centers. This article unveils key trends in high-performance GPUs, custom AI ASICs, and emerging AI chip markets.

Ion exchange membrane material design trends are evolving to meet the demands of emerging green hydrogen, carbon capture, and energy storage application growth markets. IDTechEx forecasts that membrane demand will exceed 5.3 million m² annually by 2035, with innovations in reinforced and PFAS-free materials shaping the next generation of ion exchange membranes.

The global steel industry is shifting towards decarbonization, with hydrogen-based and electric ironmaking technologies developing at an accelerated pace in recent years. This article examines the dominance of hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (H2-DRI) in current green steel project pipelines, as well as the infrastructure and cost challenges hampering widespread adoption.

Thursday 22 May 2025 - IDTechEx Discusses the Hyperactive Li-ion Batteries Recycling Market: Key Trends, Technologies, and Outlook; An introduction to Li-ion battery demand, LIB circular economy and recycling; A snapshot into key Li-ion battery recycling market trends and key player activity; Key trends in LIB recycling technologies, including cathode, direct, graphite anode, and binder recycling; A keynote on LIB Battery Regulation in the EU; IDTechEx's outlook and conclusions on the global Li-ion battery recycling market

By 2025, major automotive players such as Tesla and BYD are set to scale humanoid robot deployment over 10x, paving the way for a projected 1.6 million units in use across the industry by 2035, according to IDTechEx. While current unit costs exceed US$100,000, prices are forecast to drop to US$20,000, driving broader adoption in both the automotive and logistics sectors.

Micro-LED displays possess many qualities that give them unique value within the market. They are self-emissive and have great stability, more so than OLEDs and QLEDs, as they do not have the same sensitivity to oxygen and water. Micro-LEDs, therefore, have a longer lifetime of over 50,000 hours. Companies such as Sony, Samsung, LG, Konka, and TCL are included in the report as some of the existing micro-LED display manufacturers.

Wednesday 21 May 2025 - Next-Gen Storage and Emerging Memory: How QLC SSDs and Emerging NVMs Are Changing the Game; Industry trends driving demand for high-capacity storage and non-volatile memory innovation; What QLC SSDs and HDDs are, and how they compare across key metrics such as performance, efficiency, and density; Market analysis: key players, product evolution, and technology scaling; Deep dive into emerging memory technologies: MRAM, ReRAM, PCM, and FeRAM; Benefits and challenges of emerging memory in embedded applications; Real-world use cases across AI, automotive, industrial IoT, and consumer devices; Future outlook and forecast highlights from the IDTechEx report

Plastic leathers have been a longstanding vegan leather alternative; however, concerns around their petrochemical feedstocks, disposal, and microplastics are beginning to outweigh their low costs for some companies. With sustainability-focused projects on the rise across many sectors, newer types of leather, including mycelium, plant-based, microbial, and lab-grown, are beginning to emerge as more environmentally friendly options.

Direct air capture (DAC) could play an essential role in meeting global net-zero targets by addressing residual and legacy CO₂ emissions. However, capture costs are currently too high. This IDTechEx article explores pathways to lower-cost DAC.

AI system architectures could surpass the capabilities of Chat GPT in high-end data centers, especially as communication between GPUs becomes more enhanced as a result of better connectivity.