Advanced Materials

In-Mold Electronics (IME) will one day become a well-established process with a well-developed ecosystem and a mature, easy-to-use design-to-product workflow. This process will become the basis of many novel structural electronic designs and products.

CPI has announced the successful development of a scalable purification process for graphene oxide production in partnership with Graphene Leaders Canada Inc. a Canadian SME, and the National Research Council of Canada. This will overcome a key barrier to future large-scale production of GO, reducing costs and facilitating the adoption of GO to improve performance of industrial products.

IDTechEx interviewed KC Bean, CEO at Fieldsheer Apparel Technologies. We discussed their company and business, focusing on the details of the competitive market for heated apparel products in North America. We also discussed the technology landscape for heating, and particularly the opportunities with conductive inks in the market.

Some of the biggest hurdles to widespread adoption of electric vehicles are range anxiety, battery longevity and safety. As the electric vehicle market grows and for it to reach its full potential, there is an increased need for effective thermal management of the vehicles.

Liquid X Printed Metals® (Liquid X®), headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an advanced material manufacturer of functional metallic inks that takes an application from prototype to production.

You don't need a big laser to make laser-induced graphene. Scientists are using a very small visible beam to burn the foamy form of carbon into microscopic patterns.

C3 Nano is a producer of transparent conductive films (TCFs) and inks based on silver nanowires. Their films have 30 to 50 ohms/sq, and can be employed in flexible touch screens.

Wevo develops and produces resin systems, primarily for use in electrical and electronic equipment, and in particular for automotive electronics.

In 2020 the market for conductive inks will be $2.4Bn, according to extensive research by IDTechEx. Of that, 95% of the conductive ink supply by value goes into just three applications. However, for years now there has been work on a myriad of new applications for conductive ink, in this article we assess some of those opportunities.

Graphene is on the cusp of significant market growth; the opportunities are exciting and diverse, each with significant potential. Graphene and 2D Materials Europe 2020 (13-14 May, Berlin) is the largest B2B event on the topic with a dedicated focus on the commercial frontiers. www.GrapheneEurope.tech

MIRWEC Coating/ Yasui Seiki offers test and contract coating services that give you access to Yasui Seiki's state-of-the-art, precision thin film coating machines equipped with patented MICROGRAVURE™ and slot die coating systems. We provide high quality thin and uniform toll coating services to major corporations around the world. Our unique technology and know-how were cultivated by Yasui Seiki's profound knowledge of R2R coating machines and Labo Japan's expertise in R2R coating techniques. MIRWEC Coating also serves as the window for Yasui Seiki Japan and helps the US customers acquire one-of-a-kind, precision coating machines, from lab to production scale.

Integrated Graphene are a company that manufacture 3D graphene for sensing and energy storage applications. IDTechEx spoke to Alastair Carrington (commercial director).

9T Labs are a start-up 3D print continuous carbon fiber composites. IDTechEx spoke with Yannick Willemin (Business Development Specialist).

PrintCB are an Israeli start-up offering conductive copper ink, with a view to enabling circuit boards to be printed rather than etched. In contrast to other conductive inks, their ink is based on micron sized copper particles and is highly metallic.

Wearable tech and electronic cloth may be the way of the future, but to get there the wiring needs to be strong, flexible and efficient.

IDTechEx spoke to Behrooz Abiri, Co-founder and CTO of GuRu. They have developed a long-range wireless charging platform based on mm-wave RF.

The rise of electric vehicles is creating many new material opportunities. One such material class is the die attach material used in power electronics.

Copprint is an early stage Israeli company that has developed an ink based on copper nanoparticles. Their ink can achieve around 25% of bulk conductivity whilst only requiring a short 2-second anneal using a simple oven system at 125-250C. The ink recently (late 2019) became commercially available, and they have just finished upgrading their production capability to produced 1 tonne/month.

IDTechEx met with TacSense at CES 2020's Unveiled exhibition. We discussed their latest progress with iontronic pressure sensors, including products they have developed around putting these sensors into footwear.

E2IP, formerly GGI Solutions, specializes in human machine interfaces and printed electronics. One of its key products is molecular ink, which is highly conductive, stretchable and flexible. They have also developed printed heaters based on PCT thermistors, capacitive sensors and frequency selective surfaces, primarily with a view to applying them in in-mold electronics (IME).