While it's completely invisible and only a single atom thick, graphene is the lightest, strongest, most conductive material ever discovered, and has the same potential to change life on Earth as stone, bronze and iron once did.

Even solar cells made of a perfect miracle material would never be able to convert 100 % of sunlight to electrical energy. This is because the theoretical maximum achievable power is limited by the position of the energy bands of the electrons, and by unavoidable radiation of photons (the thermodynamic or Shockley-Queisser limit). Maximum power conversion efficiency for silicon is about 33 %, for example. But even this value will never actually be reached.

The purpose of the Greiner Ideation Hackathon is to bring interested parties and start-­ups together, over the course of 3 days, to work in teams to develop new innovative ideas leveraging Printed Electronics Technology, with the potential of further developing them into fully functional products.

Dyes that are also of great interest for organic electronics have recently been prepared and crystallised. All that is required is just water, albeit under highly unusual conditions.

The term machine vision describes a group of technologies that enable a machine to see via imaging for the purpose of process automation, and often refers to industrial vision systems. Applications of machine vision include automated product inspection and vision guided robotics. Here we consider four technology types: illuminating, sensing, processing and learning.

It's been some time in the making but now undoubtedly printed electronics is being pursued as a differentiator and enabler by many industry verticals. Organizations from several verticals are coming together to present their progress adopting printed electronics at the world's largest event on the topic - the IDTechEx Printed Electronics USA conference and exhibition, hosted in Santa Clara on November 14-15.

The latest development in textiles and fibers is a kind of soft hardware that you can wear: cloth that has electronic devices built right into it.

Scientists have proposed a novel method for the fabrication of highly transparent, electrically conductive, stretchable tough hydrogels modified by single-walled carbon nanotubes.

Robots could be safely deployed in difficult-to-access environments, such as in delicate surgical procedures in the human body.

Mobile cardiac telemetry (MCT), Holter monitoring, event monitoring and a comparison with other options

IDTechEx Analyst, Dr Richard Collins gives a brief overview on the aerospace materials industry, covering composites, light weighting, metal alloys, nano-carbons and additive manufacturing.

A smart skin that will give robots more sensitive tactile feeling than humans. The smart skin technology allows the robots to sense temperature changes and surface variations, which would allow a person alongside the robot to be safer or react accordingly.

OLED microdisplays are increasingly establishing themselves in consumer-ready wearables and data glasses. In order to meet the requirements for higher efficiency, higher contrast, and higher resolutions in these applications, scientists have developed a new micropatterning approach for OLEDs on silicon substrates.

Today, TactoTek announced the opening of sales and business development operations in Mexico with representatives in Monterrey and San Luis Potosí, Mexico—hotbeds of electronics design and manufacturing for global market leaders in automotive, home appliances, medical equipment and other markets.

Rebar graphene is the nanoscale analog of rebar (reinforcement bars) in concrete, in which embedded steel bars enhance the material's strength and durability. Rebar graphene, developed by the Rice lab of chemist James Tour in 2014, uses carbon nanotubes for reinforcement.

Robotic lawn mowers are great for cutting the grass, but they do pose a risk of injury to children playing nearby. Highly advanced sensors developed by researchers ensure that the lawn mower shuts down when children are in close proximity.

The University of Central Lancashire has unveiled the world's first graphene skinned plane at an internationally renowned air show.

Organic photovoltaic cells using organic compounds have several advantages: they are lightweight, flexible, and sophisticated, and their production cost is low. For these reasons, they are anticipated as next-generation PV cells.

The Centre for Process Innovation is working as part of a consortium to improve airtight bonding in OLED lighting for aerospace and defence applications.

The IDTechEx Launchpad initiative is open to early-stage start-ups, universities, newly spun-out companies, research labs and government labs who can demonstrate a working prototype or product that highlights new advances in any of the related event topics of: 3d printing, electric vehicles, energy storage, graphene, internet of things, printed electronics, sensors, or wearable technology.