Research Articles

With the pandemic still raging, supply chain disruptions, the chip shortage, climate catastrophes, and geopolitical turbulence, it is safe to say 2021 has not been smooth sailing. The materials and chemical sector provides the backbone of every industry and remains under pressure from all these challenges. In this article, IDTechEx highlights the key news from their independent perspective on this crucial industry.

Having covered this industry for the past decade, IDTechEx has developed an extensive database of historic and current market data. In this article IDTechEx will do something that is relatively unusual for a market research company to do: publicly compare old forecasts with what actually happened.

In the past, the lack of end-of-life batteries meant that the Li-ion (lithium-ion) recycling market had little opportunity to prosper but the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is changing this.

Wednesday 1 December 2021 - A market update on electric vehicles; Technology trends to watch out for in electric vehicle powertrains (electric motors, power electronics, cell-to-pack); The levelling up of autonomous vehicles; Opportunities for fuel cell electric vehicles.

5G is recognized as an important infrastructure for both developed and developing countries. By the end of 2021, 79 nations have either commercialized 5G or are conducting 5G trials. Though 5G is commercialized, there are still a lot of technical developments going on. In this article, IDTechEx discuss the 4 major areas of development/trends.

Are you fed up with Zoom? Do you want online interactions to feel more... interactive? The metaverse promises a step-change in how society communicates but, without the hardware technology, will ultimately remain a pipe dream.

The massive new challenges of desertification, rising sea levels, starvation, increasingly violent weather, dysfunctional national governments and the accelerating move to cities can be tackled on a human scale.

Energy storage technologies are undergoing a challenging transformation, vital in an emerging climate that increasingly necessitates renewable energies and recyclable hardware. Covering a wide portfolio of energy storage technologies, their history, and their outlook for the future, IDTechEx looks at how the energy storage sector has fared over the past year, and where it is headed for the next.

Despite the roaring success of EVs, adequate charging infrastructure is lagging behind. It is a classic chicken-versus-egg scenario: do public charging stations help drive EV adoption, or does greater EV adoption demand a more comprehensive public charging infrastructure?

2021 has been an exciting year for printed electronics, with multiple applications reaching commercial adoption and significant funds flowing into the sector. Even where technologies are not yet commercialized, companies are increasingly transitioning from developing their technology and producing speculative demonstration prototypes to development and qualification projects for specific customers.

Climate change is one of humanity's most pressing challenges. In an effort to accelerate global action in limiting temperature rises, international lawmakers, business leaders, scientists, and activists convened in Glasgow (U.K.) for the past two weeks in the UN's Climate Change Conference (COP26). In this article, IDTechEx examines three crucial technologies in the fight against climate change that saw advancements (or not) during this COP's proceedings.

Thursday 18 November 2021 - Can Technology Innovation Awaken a Sleeping Giant? This webinar includes a summary of the key issues facing global agriculture; emerging applications of agricultural robotics; an overview of some of the key developments in the field; and much more.