Advanced Materials

Electric vehicles by land, water and air are rapidly arriving and rapidly being misunderstood. Motors last forever? No. We now push motors so hard they wear out, increasing sales.

Here come previously impossible devices and structures. The new IDTechEx report, "Smart Material Opportunities in Structural Electronics 2020-2030" analyses and forecasts a remarkable $200 billion materials opportunity by making dumb structures smart.

Recycling waste plastics is essential to creating a circular economy. Current recycling methods are hampered by issues such as societal perceptions of recycling, to economic barriers and technological; however, over the past few years the number of technical innovations to improve polymer recycling have substantially increased.

Central to any circular economy is polymer recycling. Current mechanical recycling processes face many issues from societal perceptions of recycling, to economic and technological barriers; however, there are a number of companies whose innovations are changing the face of polymer recycling. From IDTechEx's latest report, "Green Technology and Polymer Recycling: Market Analysis 2020-2030" by Dr Bryony Core, here is a rundown of some of these key companies.

Thermal interface materials (TIM) play a crucial role in numerous sectors, from lithium-ion batteries to 5G base stations, LEDs, consumer electronics and more. Heat dissipation is often on the of the limiting factors as many industries look to increase power and reduce the size.

At the recent IDTechEx Show in Santa Clara, C2Sense took the award for 'Graphene & 2D Materials - Most Significant Advancement In Graphene, CNT, Or 2D Material Commercialization'. Their application was on 'Selective CNT Gas Sensors' and was a popular choice with the independent judging panel.

Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) are not glamourous but are often an essential component found in all manner of electronic and energy storage applications. Indeed, they are absolutely pervasive. They are truly a diverse technology in terms of suppliers, material options, deposition techniques, applications, market requirement and performance levels. This makes them difficult to analyse.

Will market growth in thermoelectric energy harvesting primarily come from low or high power opportunities? Which researchers and manufacturers have the products with the most potential? Forecasts by industry? Significance of latest advances? Most active countries? It is all here in the new IDTechEx report, "Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting and Sensing 2020-2030"

These are exciting times for radar technology. Many changes are taking place. In this article, we outline some key trends from the recent IDTechEx report "Radars 2020-2030: Technologies, Future Trends, Forecasts".

In-mold electronics (IME) - or in-mold structural electronics (IMSE) - is about to enter a period of rapid revenue growth, with IDTechEx forecasting the overall market to exceed $1bn within a decade.