Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are gaining significant traction as a conductive additive at the cathode of lithium-ion batteries (LiB), a market driven in turn by the electrification of vehicles. This success has seen an explosion in the global production capacity of CNTs, with players racing to establish themselves as a leading supplier to the energy sector. However, the potential application areas for CNTs extend far beyond batteries. In this article, IDTechEx assesses the effects of increasing capacity and how this surge in supply will open opportunities for CNTs beyond the LiB market.

Friday 1 December 2023 - Following the Money - Enabling Materials (conductive inks, CNTs and graphene); Comparisons of applicable 2D and 3D manufacturing processes; Outlook for key components including sensors, batteries and displays; Market drivers and needs

Thursday 30 November 2023; MicroLED technologies and manufacturing processes; Values and challenges; MicroLED applications and analysis; Application roadmap; Current development status

Tuesday 21 November 2023 - Emerging Sustainable Materials to Watch in 2024" - White Biotechnology; Sustainable Plastic Packaging; CO2 Utilization for Chemicals and Materials; Emerging Alternative Leathers

Quantum technologies are evolving at a rapid pace. Spurred by the promise of exponentially faster computation and classically unachievable sensitivity, billions of dollars are being poured into the development of quantum computers and quantum sensors.

Friday 24 November 2023 - Advanced Semiconductor Packaging: Materials, Technology, Market Outlook - Advanced semiconductor packaging markets and their mid-long-term opportunity; Player analysis - the dynamics of advanced semiconductor packaging battleground; Industry barriers: Manufacturing challenges and material requirements; Research direction for Advanced Semiconductor Packaging

Creating a circular economy is an essential sustainability target for governments, brands, materials suppliers, and the public. Key to pushing these sustainability efforts, which range from sustainability roadmaps developed by chemical and material companies to sustainable material usage targets adopted by brands, is the danger that growing global plastic consumption poses to the environment.

Tuesday 28 November - What is the state of the quantum technology market in 2023? Quantum Computing: Benchmarking friends and foes; Quantum Sensing: Sensitivity vs. SWAP-C; Quantum Communications: Trading on trust

The announcement claimed by Toyota that it had a "technological breakthrough" to resolve durability issues and "a solution for materials" for a solid-state battery (SSB) powering EVs in July 2023 has triggered another wave of interest in SSBs, in addition to the continuous efforts from companies such as BMW, CATL, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, LG, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Panasonic, Samsung, Volkswagen, etc.

In the color spectrum of biotechnology, white biotechnology stands out as the industrial production and processing of chemicals, materials, and energy via cell factories like bacteria and yeast. In the bioeconomy, in which society uses renewable biological resources to create biobased products, white biotechnology acts as a critical technology driver. It not only reduces society's dependence on fossil fuels but also consumes less energy, generates minimal waste, and produces more environmentally friendly products.

Ensuring that sensitive electronic components are not adversely affected by radiated electromagnetic interference (EMI) is an essential part of circuit design. Where compactness and close component proximity are a priority, such as in smartphones and smartwatches, conventional board-level shielding with metallic enclosures is increasingly being replaced with conformal package-level shielding.

Wednesday 15 November 2023 - Electric vehicles: Battery strategies; Battery thermal interface materials; Direct oil cooling electric motors; Power electronics and adoption of wide bandgap semiconductors; Fire protection materials. Data centers: Increasing design power; Liquid cooling thermal management strategies; Industrial collaborations and opportunities for players

Graphene has long been seen as a "wonder material" and a solution to many of the world's challenges. The reality is very different as, unsurprisingly, the hype did not immediately translate into commercial success.

Quantum dots (QDs) could potentially be targeting the huge consumer electronics application via its adoption in image sensors, apart from existing industrial applications. IDTechEx has published its view on the global quantum dot markets and enabling technologies in their report "Quantum Dot Materials and Technologies 2024-2034: Trends, Markets, Applications".

In the ever-evolving energy storage landscape, the advent of solid-state batteries (SSBs) is leading to a new era of possibilities. As the demand for higher performance and safer energy storage solutions grows, SSBs have emerged as a frontrunner in the race for next-generation battery technology.

If biotechnology was a color spectrum, where different colors correspond to different application areas (i.e. medicine, agriculture, etc.), then what is white biotechnology? White biotechnology is the industrial production and processing of chemicals, materials, and energy using micro-organisms like bacteria and yeast.

As reported by Nvidia's Q2 financial statement, its second-quarter data center's revenue was a record US$10.32 billion, up 141% from the previous quarter and up 171% from a year ago. With the increasing demand for high-performance servers in data centers, IDTechEx has seen challenges in data center thermal management and tremendous opportunities in this industry.

Thursday 12 October - An introduction to EMI shielding for electronics, including the transition from board/enclosure level shielding to package level shielding; How trends in semiconductor packaging such as heterogeneous integration will affect EMI shielding requirements and demand for novel deposition capabilities; Emerging materials for EMI shielding, including particle-free (molecular) conductive inks and MXenes

2022 saw the aerogels market take a large leap forward with the success of electric vehicle (EV) batteries as an application. Historic growth has been steady for other applications, but with the growth fuelled by the EV market, there is the opportunity for several other applications to take advantage of the scaling production volume.