Advanced Materials

Flexible and foldable high-performance barrier or encapsulation technology had long represented a technology challenge. The industry spent a decade and a half optimizing the approaches and the processes to achieve large-area production-grade results. The development however has not ended. Indeed, the commercial journey towards flexible and foldable devices is only just beginning. As such, the development of flexible barrier technologies still has far to travel.

Every year IDTechEx Research publishes an article that reflects the latest trends in the conductive ink industry. These articles are based on IDTechEx Research's report "Conductive Ink Markets 2019-2029: Forecasts, Technologies, Players", which is the result of ongoing research over the past eight years. This year IDTechEx will give an update on multiple less mature trends which offer high growth potential.

Graphene industry is entering a new phase, a phase of growth. The industry has accumulated significant experience over the past 10-12 years to bring about this phase. In this article, IDTechEx Research offer opinions about the recent past and future outlook of the graphene industry based on the report 'Graphene, 2D Materials and Carbon Nanotubes: Markets, Technologies and Opportunities 2019-2029'.

Power electronics is a growing market thanks to electrification of many industries including the automotive industry.

Since 2014/2015 IDTechEx Research noticed that the centre of graphene research and commercial activity was shifting to China. This trend had shown itself in publication and patent numbers, as well as in investments and capacity announcements. The precedent was also there: China had stepped in late but became a leading territory in commercialising carbon nanotubes.

IIDTechEx Research asks if the graphene competitive landscape will be drastically reconfigured. These are interesting times for graphene. Multiple significant applications have arrived in the market. Revenues are growing for many and companies are finally seeing average order sizes grow thanks to a few high volume (multi-tonne) lead conversions. This looks like the first stage of the growth phase.

The automotive industry has emerged as a significant market opportunity for suppliers of conductive pastes and similar materials. It has the potential to one day rival in significance the irreplaceable photovoltaic market. Almost every major paste supplier with a global profile is re-organising its team and its product portfolio to capture this rising trend.

In this slide presentation (see link below) we assess non-graphene 2D materials, focusing mainly on MoS2 as the main example of the family of 2D TMDs (transition metal dichalcogenides).

The market numbers understate Tesla's leadership. This is because Tesla cars sell at more than twice the price of other leading pure electric cars.

In this article IDTechEx Research provides highlights from Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 regarding 5G technologies. More information can be found in the brand new 5G report from IDTechEx Research, '5G Technology, Market and Forecast 2019-2029'.