Semiconductors are the lifeblood of the modern age. From your watch to a washing machine, everything these days seems to be 'smart', 'connected' and therefore enabled by semiconductors. Unsurprisingly then, a massive shortage of chips present 'across all categories', according to some industry executives, is having a profound impact.

Electric vehicle battery packs have increasing requirements concerning their thermal runaway mitigation strategy. Meanwhile, the aerogel industry is overly dependent on oil & gas and in need of diversification. Could this be the perfect match between a problem looking for a solution and a solution looking for a problem?

Omron engineers have worked hard to create long lasting and reliable sensing products for manufacturers and product designers. With continued growth of smart sensor demand within the touchless market and for the medical industry, Omron has continued improvements on their latest sensing product, the B5L Time of Flight sensor.

No one complained about gasoline cars going much further than you would ever drive. As people got used to them, it was realized that long-range means less hassle. With electric cars, the argument is even stronger. Long-range saves you money.

In-mold electronics enables electronic functionality to be embedded within molded and thermoformed plastic components. With the integration of capacitive touch, lighting, and even haptics alongside size and weight reductions of up to 70%, IME is an efficient approach to making curved touch-sensitive interfaces. Given these benefits, IDTechEx forecasts IME to be a $1.5 billion market by 2032, with applications mainly within the automotive and consumer goods sectors.

Researchers have developed a new method to 3D print mechanisms that detect how force is being applied to an object. The structures are made from a single piece of material, so they can be rapidly prototyped. A designer could use this method to 3D print "interactive input devices," like a joystick, switch, or handheld controller, in one go.

5G is paving the way for a fully digitalized and connected world. The past two years have seen many new field trials and an accelerating number of commercial rollouts. Moreover, 5G is starting to be adopted in a wide range of industries, from manufacturing to healthcare.

Printed and flexible sensors constitute the largest printed electronics market outside of displays. Indeed, we forecast that the market for fully printed sensors will reach 4.9 billion by 2032.

Concrete is the second most consumed substance on the planet, trailing only potable water. Cement production - an essential ingredient for concrete - alone contributes to 7% of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. As the world will see the building stock double in size by 2050, pressure for the cement industry to decarbonize has risen swiftly.

Graphene is sometimes used in metamaterial systems for the familiar reasons such as high conductivity even at high frequency, thinness, integrity and lack of energy loss through harmonics.

Antennas are the first major success for metamaterials and these can act as sensors

6G Communications promises between ten to one hundred times the download speed for operating unpowered devices, remote holographic surgery and much more, but it will depend on how high a frequency is chosen and how much infrastructure investment is made.

This premium article examines the laminar, antenna-like metamaterial that prevents emissions passing through

Taking in all stages of production, concrete is said to be responsible for 4-8% of the world's CO2.

This article explores the history of solid-state batteries and looks ahead at regional development, sharing some of the research from the new IDTechEx report, "Solid-State and Polymer Batteries 2021-2031: Technology, Forecasts, Players".

In their new report "3D Printing Ceramics 2022-2032: Technology and Market Outlook", IDTechEx forecasts the ceramic 3D printing industry to grow 7-fold to $400M by 2032. Given how young the market is, seven-fold growth in the next 10 years indicates a positive future for the industry.

This premium article examines metamaterial antenna innovations

Thursday 16 September 2021 - Why are the most popular applications being added beyond today's popular microwave frequencies for deployed metamaterials? Why will sophisticated metasurfaces be essential for planned terahertz 6G communications, transforming your mobile phone and much more?

Molex is a major manufacturer of printed electronics, flexible circuitry, sensor solutions, and user interface for a wide variety of applications. IDTechEx caught up with marketing analyst Kylie Pessetti of the Printed Circuit Solutions business unit (PCSBU) to find out about its capabilities in the manufacture of printed and flexible electronics.