While at the proof-of-concept stage, it shows enormous potential as a portable power supply in several practical applications including electric vehicles, phones and wearable technology.

Ahead of the IDTechEx Show! Berlin, 13-14 May 2020, IDTechEx looks back at the stories of some companies propelled to success by the IDTechEx Launchpad initiative.

In 2020 the market for conductive inks will be $2.4Bn, according to extensive research by IDTechEx. Of that, 95% of the conductive ink supply by value goes into just three applications. However, for years now there has been work on a myriad of new applications for conductive ink, in this article we assess some of those opportunities.

Graphene is on the cusp of significant market growth; the opportunities are exciting and diverse, each with significant potential. Graphene and 2D Materials Europe 2020 (13-14 May, Berlin) is the largest B2B event on the topic with a dedicated focus on the commercial frontiers. www.GrapheneEurope.tech

The first highly transparent, touch-responsive and conducting ultra-flexible thin sheets of indium tin oxide have been made by researchers in Australia. Made using a new liquid metal printing technique, the sheets are just 1.5 nm thick and can be deposited onto a variety of substrates - which can then be rolled up like a tube.

MIRWEC Coating/ Yasui Seiki offers test and contract coating services that give you access to Yasui Seiki's state-of-the-art, precision thin film coating machines equipped with patented MICROGRAVURE™ and slot die coating systems. We provide high quality thin and uniform toll coating services to major corporations around the world. Our unique technology and know-how were cultivated by Yasui Seiki's profound knowledge of R2R coating machines and Labo Japan's expertise in R2R coating techniques. MIRWEC Coating also serves as the window for Yasui Seiki Japan and helps the US customers acquire one-of-a-kind, precision coating machines, from lab to production scale.

Wearable tech and electronic cloth may be the way of the future, but to get there the wiring needs to be strong, flexible and efficient.

Creative Materials introduces 128-17A/B fast curing electrically conductive adhesive. This product is a two-component silver filled adhesive that cures at room temperature.

Xenoma develops the next-generation smart apparel 'e-skin' to provide well-being and happiness in your daily life. As it can be worn comfortably, the e-skin is one of the most ideal interfaces to monitor the user's activity and vital information unobtrusively. Founded in November 2015 as a spin-out from the University of Tokyo and collaborating with Japanese apparel manufacturing and trading companies, Xenoma works across many industries and sectors to achieve "Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Through Entertainment".

An innovative manufacturing technique has led to the development of hybrid organic transistors for use in next-generation electronic displays and large-area electronics.

In automobile production, industrial robots and production lines largely relieve people of having to work with heavy loads. This is not the case for people who work in a trade or in care, where the body can be heavily burdened by hard work. In the PowerGrasp project, a second skin provides additional strength.

The rise of electric vehicles is creating many new material opportunities. One such material class is the die attach material used in power electronics.

PrintoCent community organized the world's biggest theme week around printed intelligence. Main event of the week was PRINSE'20 seminar, which covered topics including eco-efficiency and sustainability, structural electronics, intelligent diagnostics and the emerging capacity growth in Roll-2-Roll manufacturing industry with over 60 industry speakers.

A thin image sensor that allows for both high-speed readout and high-resolution imaging.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Wednesday 12 February 2020 titled XR: What is XR, and where is it going?

Recent outbreaks of the novel coronavirus have emphasized the importance of quarantine and prevention more than ever. When monitoring changes in our body, body temperature is first measured. So, it is very significant to measure the temperature accurately and promptly.

NANOPAINT is a technology-based company which develops and supplies functional inks for the production of printed and flexible sensors. We offer piezoresistive, piezoelectric, magnetic and magnetoelectric inks which can be customized for a specific printing technique.

Toray Industries has become the first in the world to communicate wirelessly across the UHF band with a printed semiconductor. This setup employs a printed radio-frequency identifier that the company created.

At the heart of any electronic device is a cold, hard computer chip, covered in a miniature city of transistors and other semiconducting elements. Because computer chips are rigid, the electronic devices that they power, such as our smartphones, laptops, watches, and televisions, are similarly inflexible. Now a process developed by engineers may be the key to manufacturing flexible electronics with multiple functionalities in a cost-effective way.