Advanced Materials

The field of nanocarbons is not new and it has certainly been the victim of too much hype and false dawns, but things have changed. Across 2022 and into the decade ahead, CNTs and graphene will enter different phases of their industrial expansion.

IDTechEx's latest report, "Sustainable Electronics Manufacturing 2023-2033", explores how the environmental impact of manufacturing printed circuit boards (PCBs) and integrated circuits (ICs) can be reduced through innovative materials choices and processing methods. This includes implementing low-temperature processing, eliminating superfluous wasteful steps, recycling and re-using materials where possible, and adopting novel approaches where the long-term potential is foreseen.

The occurrence of fires in electric vehicles (EVs) is less common than their combustion engine counterparts, in total number but also in terms of the rate per miles traveled. However infrequent, it is extremely important to protect the vehicle's occupants and prolong the time for a fire to exit the battery pack for as long as possible.

Despite strong incumbent materials for certain components, the technology landscape for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells is set to change in many varied ways over the coming years. An increased materials demand in terms of both volume and units, reducing the cost of components, and the emergence of disruptive technologies are all expected, while supply chain agreements are being established and strengthened across the industry. Alongside the growth in demand, emerging trends, and player analysis, IDTechEx detail how the associated materials market for PEM fuel cells is expected to exceed a value of US$7bn by 2033.

Fire Protection Materials for Electric Vehicle Batteries 2023-2033 - Fire protection and thermal runaway propagation limiting materials for electric cars, buses, vans, trucks, scooters, and motorcycles. Ceramics, mica, aerogels, foams, encapsulants, coatings, and PCMs. Material benchmarking and market forecasts.

Thursday 10 November 2022 - Three years after 5G first commercialization, where does 5G stand now? This webinar will discuss the following four key aspects of 5G - 5G deployment overview; open RAN technology; 5G technology; 5G use cases; and 5G future market outlook.

Wednesday 9 November 2022 - Critical, independent assessment of the incumbent and emerging chemical recycling and dissolution processes; solutions for different polymer types and forms; overview of the key developments and players in this field; analysis of the key market drivers; market outlook on the planned chemical recycling projects; view of the industry pain points and criticisms

Photovoltaics is the fastest-growing energy source. Of the thin film PV technologies, cadmium telluride (CdTe) dominates. It is largely concentrated within the US, where it accounts for 40 % of US utility-scale PV power. In recent years, the commercial efficiency of CdTe panels has been playing a catch-up game with conventional silicon and is currently trailing by ~3 %. Efficiency, however, is not the only deciding factor.

Where does 5G stand three years after its first commercialization in 2019? Let's start with the frequency band. We know that the sub-6 GHz (3.5 - 7 GHz) and millimeter wave (mmWave, >24 GHz) bands are the two new bands among the spectrum covered in 5G. Despite the hype surrounding mmWave, according to IDTechEx's "5G Market 2023-2033: Technology, Trends, Forecasts, Players" report, 53% of 5G commercial/pre-commercial services are actually based on sub-6 GHz, with mmWave accounting only for less than 10% of the market.

The true description of graphene is that of a single atomic layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal array. However, the nanocarbon material landscape is much more complicated than this simple statement, with single-layer, few-layer, multi-layer, graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and both graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) all to be considered as types of graphene.