Research Articles

The renewable energy sector is becoming increasingly enriched with the developments of clean, green, and natural power sources, with hydrogen and solar being two of the biggest technology names rising within the industry. This article covers some of their latest applications including solar canopy charging, stationary fuel cells, and hydrogen planes.

Glass interposers and glass core substrates are being pursued intensively by leading device makers, materials suppliers, and equipment vendors for advanced packaging applications, as discussed in IDTechEx's brand new report "Glass in Semiconductors 2026-2036: Applications, Emerging Technologies, and Market Insights".

This new report, "Thermal Management For Data Centers 2026-2036: Technologies, Markets, and Opportunities", covers in-depth technical analysis of different cooling technologies for data centers, including air cooling, single-phase direct-to-chip cooling, two-phase direct-to-chip cooling, single-phase immersion, two-phase immersion, and microfluidic cooling.

2025 has yielded massive jumps in autonomous vehicle technology, both in hardware and software. IDTechEx's report, Autonomous Driving Software and AI in Automotive 2026-2046: Technologies, Markets, Players, forecasts a more than 1,000 times increase in software-related revenue for autonomous vehicles from 2026 to 2046.

The battery management system acts as the 'brain' of the battery pack, and is responsible for monitoring, control, and communication. This article covers advancing technologies and benchmarking of different sensor types.

Thin film solar cells could be the answer to changing up the photovoltaic market, providing an alternative means of harnessing solar power to the long incumbent heavy and rigid silicon panels. This article covers materials, benefits, and expected growth within the market.

IDTechEx estimates that global rare earth magnet production will exceed 330 ktpa by 2036, as the USA and Europe move to reshore and scale domestic manufacturing capacity. Technology innovations addressing rare earth separation and magnet manufacturing will play a critical role in achieving increased magnet production while reducing reliance on supply-strapped heavy rare earths.

Thermal interface materials are responsible for transferring the heat from heat generating components onto a heatsink in electronic devices. This article covers IDTechEx's benchmarking of some of the most common materials, and the main applications for TIMs.

Join IDTechEx Research Analyst Dr Xiaoxi He on Thursday 9th October for 'Glass Rising in Semiconductors: Applications, Integration Pathways, and Market Signals', an insightful webinar on the cross‑industry trend of glass adoption in semiconductors. Choose your preferred time zone - the webinar runs three times during the day.

A data center fire has caused the shutdown of hundreds of online government services in South Korea, likely caused by a battery explosion. This incident is particularly severe, but there have been many like it through the battery energy storage system (BESS) industry, highlighting the need for further improvements to enhance battery safety.

Incidents such as a suspected battery explosion resulting in the recent fire at South Korea's national data center halting major online government services, bring to the fore the need to minimize the risk of thermal runaway events.

The need for thermal protection systems for spacecraft is currently a hot topic a result of recent growth within the space tech industry. This article covers the shift from governmental to commercial expeditions, and explores different types and approaches to thermal management.

In-mold electronics (IME) can allow for surfaces or 3D structures to become functional, with embedded electrical components, to streamline and increase performance capabilities. This article covers some of the main benefits to developments within IME, along with some of the main applications and market forecasts.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have rapidly scaled from laboratory production to a high-volume, critical additive in lithium-ion batteries, driving global capacity expansion and industry consolidation while putting downward pressure on material costs. Beyond energy storage, falling prices and increasing production open opportunities for CNTs in cost-sensitive applications, where they will compete with other advanced nanocarbons such as carbon black.

Senior Technology Analyst Eve Pope covers what to consider when selecting a carbon capture technology and which carbon capture technologies are most mature.

IDTechEx summarises the progress of MEMS speakers.

There are growing market opportunities globally for both incumbent and emerging gas separation membrane materials. In this article, IDTechEx Senior Technology Analyst Eve Pope explores three emerging materials for gas separation membranes.

As demand for critical rare earths, semiconductors, and battery materials grows amid increasing supply uncertainty, waste and other secondary feedstocks are emerging as key sources for critical material recovery. IDTechEx forecasts that 8,150 ktonnes of critical materials will be recovered from waste annually by 2046, driven by strategic reshoring of critical material supply chains, maturation of key recycling technologies, and the growing value recoverable from waste.

Around the clock access to health metrics, made accessible by wearable devices for consumers, is revolutionizing fitness optimization and healthcare in a non-invasive way. This article covers different wearable devices, and the many types of sensors and their primary applications.

Green hydrogen is an up and coming zero-emission technology helping to boost decarbonization efforts within the energy sector. This article explores the main benefits and production methods of green hydrogen.

Metal additive manufacturing specifically boasts increased benefits when compared to other material feedstocks in 3D printing, including freedom of design, local manufacturing, cost savings, and reduced manufacturing times. This article covers some of the outlooks for the market including key trends and forecasts.

Join IDTechEx Senior Technology Analyst Yulin Wang on Thursday 2nd October for 'Thermal Interface Materials: TIM1, TIM1.5, TIM2 - 3.2x market size increase from 2025 to 2036', a webinar that will dive deep into the evolving world of TIMs, exploring how these materials are shaping the future of thermal management across diverse applications. Choose your preferred time zone - the webinar runs three times during the day.

Conductive additives are essential materials in the construction of Li-ion cells. This article highlights how advanced carbons, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene, are disrupting the Li-ion conductive additive market with their enhanced performance at lower loading quantities.

As semiconductor packaging surges toward 2.5D and 3D architectures, managing thermal resistance at the interface becomes mission-critical. With traditional thermal interface materials (TIMs) no longer sufficient, the next generation of TIMs offers the opportunity to gain a quantum leap in thermal efficiency, reliability, and market growth. The market size of next-generation TIM1 and TIM1.5 for advanced semiconductor packaging will exceed at a CAGR of 31% from 2026 to 2036.

Watch this short IDTechEx video to learn about refrigerant trends, emerging material solutions and car refrigerant demand through to 2036.

Join Daniel Parr, Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, on Thursday 25th September 2025 for this deep dive webinar into emerging application spaces for supercapacitors. Choose your preferred time zone - the webinar runs three times during the day.

In this article, IDTechEx explores the fascinating relationship between quantum computing and AI: two supposed tech revolutions that frequently grab the spotlight. Underneath the hype, there exist both technical synergies and competing market forces.

Principal Technology Analyst Dr Chang covers the status of the passive RFID market in 2025 and the outlook to 2031.

CCUS technologies can enable global decarbonization without deindustrialization. In this article, some key insights from the new IDTechEx "Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Markets 2026-2036" report are shared.

This article discusses some of the potential applications of advanced coatings technologies. Coatings are a vital tool in a multitude of industries globally. Find out more in IDTechEx's latest report, 'Advanced Coatings 2026-2036: Market, Technologies, Players'.

Join Dr. Yu-Han Chang, Principal Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, on Tuesday 23rd September 2025 for an exclusive webinar exploring the dynamic and fast-growing RFID industry. Choose your preferred time zone - the webinar runs three times during the day.

This new report "Critical Material Recovery 2026-2046: Technologies, Markets, Players" characterizes secondary source critical material recovery markets, technologies, and players. Market roadmaps for emerging secondary sources, value chain analysis, and twenty-year market forecasts from 2026 to 2046 are provided. IDTechEx identifies a significant value opportunity, with the critical material recovery market forecast to grow to over US$66 billion annually by 2046, at a CAGR of 9.2%.

This article, drawing from IDTechEx's report on Thermal Management for Electric Vehicles 2026-2036 takes a deep dive into the thermal management related materials and components in an EV, along with analysis on key trends and players for each.

Graphene has long been hailed as a wonder material, but its commercial journey has been defined by cautious progress rather than overnight disruption. Today, the industry is steadily advancing beyond the laboratory stage. IDTechEx projects robust growth for graphene-related materials in the coming decade, driven by expanding demand across multiple application sectors.

Diabetes is becoming increasingly common, with 784 million people worldwide expected to be dealing with the condition by 2045 according to IDTechEx's research. This article covers some of the most common approaches to effectively managing the condition, and explores some methods under development.

Webinar: Growing Scrutiny on Microplastics and Evolving Regulations Presenter: Dr Shababa Selim, Senior Technology Analyst, IDTechEx Date: Thursday 18 September 2025