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Ever wondered how a touch-sensitive screen works? The answer is capacitive sensing, which can detect the presence of your finger through the protective glass sheet and doesn’t require any pressure. However, this perhaps under-appreciated technology is not limited to touch-sensitive displays: it is increasingly being utilized for many other established and emerging applications, ranging from automotive controls to leak sensing and even eye tracking.

How Does Capacitive Sensing Work?

Understanding the operating mechanism of capacitive sensors is key to understanding the applications to which they are well suited. Briefly, the sensors work via capacitive coupling to detect objects that have dielectric properties substantially different from air – fingers, being mainly water, work well. Since electric fields can travel through dielectric materials such as air or glass, there is no requirement for electrical contact. However, depending on sensitivity and readout methodology, the object being sensed often needs to be close to the patterned conductive layer, which is why it’s often difficult to use touchscreens or other capacitive controls while wearing gloves.

Opaque Touch Sensing

Although capacitive sensing is widely associated with touch-sensitive displays, it is also increasingly used on opaque surfaces. These include car steering wheel controls and touch panels – the conductive material used to make the capacitive sensor is sometimes a transparent metal mesh so that the controls can be backlit. Capacitive touch sensing is also an essential feature of in-mold electronics, in which conductive traces and LEDs are first printed/mounted on a flat substrate, then thermoformed, and finally, injection molded.

Moving from conventional mechanical switches to capacitive switches brings multiple benefits: fewer components, a reduction in materials used, an interface that can be wiped clean (since there are no grooves between buttons), and a sleek modern aesthetic. However, some drivers have expressed concerns that capacitive sensors are less tactile and hence more difficult to use while driving – integrating haptic feedback is a possible solution.

Technological and commercial readiness of capacitive sensing technologies and applications. Source: IDTechEx

Leak Sensing

As anyone who has tried to operate their smartphone in the rain will attest, capacitive sensors are extremely sensitive to water due to its high dielectric constant. While this might be undesirable on a touch-sensitive display, it does enable capacitive sensors to be used for leak detection.

By utilizing low-cost materials such as carbon inks printed onto plastic using conventional methods, it is possible to produce rolls of printed/flexible sensors for just a few dollars. These can then be placed around plumbing, under kitchen appliances, and even along pipes – a small control unit housing a circuit board with a micro-controller and batteries measures the changing capacitance. If a leak occurs, a change in capacitance is detected, and a signal is sent to an app to provide a notification. This capability is proving compelling to insurance companies since limited capital investment would substantially limit the property damage caused by any leak.

Eye-Tracking

Perhaps the most surprising emerging application of capacitive sensors is an early-stage technology that provides eye-tracking for virtual/augmented reality glasses. Based on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) embedded within paper to produce a conductive material with a very large surface area and hence high sensitivity to changes in the dielectric environment. Utilizing three sensors enables projected capacitance, in which the relative response of each sensor enables the location of the change in dielectric properties of the target object to be determined via triangulation. Compared to competing approaches such as machine vision, capacitive sensing promises a much shorter processing time and hence a more responsive system.

Emerging Printed & Flexible Sensor Technologies

IDTechEx’s report “Printed and Flexible Sensors 2022-2032: Technologies, Players, Markets” assesses the technologies and market landscape across 9 distinct printed sensor technologies: piezoresistive sensors, piezoelectric sensors, printed photodetectors, temperature sensors, strain sensors, capacitive touch sensors, gas sensors, biological sensors, wearable electrodes. The report draws on detailed profiles of over 50 companies, the majority based on interviews, to evaluate each of these printed sensor categories in considerable detail, evaluating the different technologies and the challenges to adoption. IDTechEx develop 10-year market forecasts for each technology and application sector, resulting in 33 individual forecast segments delineated by revenue and printed sensor area.

About IDTechEx

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

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On September 30th 2022, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke to Dutch news outlet Bright about the future of augmented reality (AR) and the metaverse. On AR, Cook was bullish, stating that it “won’t be that long” until we look at life without AR as we now look back to a life before the internet or smartphone. Conversely, in the latest of a series of blows for perception of the metaverse, Cook said that Apple does not use the word as the public does not understand it and that virtual reality (VR) is not a good method of communication.

As outlined in IDTechEx’s recent report, “Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2023-2033: Technologies, Players, and Markets”, interest in the metaverse has driven a surge in investment in AR and VR hardware since these technologies are expected to become the key gateways to this next evolution of the internet. However, as detailed in the report, it is important to remember that the applications of AR extend beyond this to solve tangible problems in the shorter term. Apple has clearly not forgotten this fact.

Finding the Right Application for Consumer AR

There is a growing realization that, for consumer AR glasses to truly succeed, they need to perform multiple roles that cannot be fulfilled by existing smart devices or VR headsets. Google’s ongoing public study with AR glasses that translate and transcribe conversations in real-time, amongst other tasks, is one example.

Technically, these glasses do not do anything new. Smartphone software is technically capable of the same task, yet AR spectacles let you have a seamless conversation without looking down at a screen. For those who must frequently communicate in unfamiliar languages or with hearing difficulties, this kind of product could be life-changing.

Social acceptability has been a historical stumbling block for consumer AR headsets (the term “glasshole” was coined to describe users of the original Google Glass). If AR headsets are shown to have a unique ability to solve high-value problems of this sort, the size of this barrier could decrease. Google’s latest demonstrator AR glasses appear to use a similar optical setup to the holographic freespace combiners previously used by Canadian firm North, which it acquired in 2020. These keep the device looking much like a normal pair of glasses and the eyes of the user fully visible, greatly aiding social acceptability. The ability of new AR optical designs to enable social acceptability is a key theme of IDTechEx’s report, “Optics for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2022-2032: Technologies, Players and Markets”.

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Solving relatively niche problems might contrast with the grand vision of AR headsets revolutionizing how we communicate, but it offers the best approach to laying the groundwork for these devices to become mass-market. To begin replacing smartphones or smartwatches, AR headsets need to demonstrate that they can offer solutions these products cannot. Perhaps when this value proposition is established, market goals will shift to a more revolutionary push toward the metaverse.

Are “iGlasses” Coming?

Like Google, Apple is likely looking for the most useful ways to take its AR applications from smartphones to smart glasses. It has laid strong groundwork here, asserting that it already has the world’s largest AR platform, with patent and acquisition activity indicating it may have intentions to release an AR headset. Notably, alongside many AR software patents, several patents applied for by Apple since 2021 indicate interest in eye tracking, which is increasingly common in AR/VR devices as a method to reduce resolution demands whilst keeping image quality the same, as well as acting as an interface with software – eye tracking technologies are covered within the IDTechEx report, “Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2023-2033: Technologies, Players, and Markets”. The company’s 2018 acquisition of holographic AR optics firm Akonia Holographics has also persistently stoked rumors of an Apple AR headset being just around the corner.

The AR industry is waiting with bated breath for Apple to release an AR headset, and Tim Cook’s latest statement will no doubt inspire hope here. An Apple AR headset would act as a vital vote of confidence in the technology, and the tech giant clearly sees it as the next big thing in computing. What remains less clear is when “iGlasses” will come and whether Apple has abandoned widely assumed plans for a VR headset to be released alongside them.

Technical and commercial analysis of emerging technologies for AR/VR, including ten year forecasting and technology adoption analysis, can be found in IDTechEx's recently released reports “Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2023-2033: Technologies, Players, and Markets” and “Optics for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2022-2032: Technologies, Players and Markets”. The reports cover applications of AR/VR ranging from industrial use to consumer gaming.

About IDTechEx

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

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The automotive market is trending towards greater levels of autonomy with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) becoming increasingly adopted to improve the safety of drivers and pedestrians or even just to make driving a more convenient experience. ADAS encompasses a huge variety of functions from automatic emergency braking all the way to fully autonomous driving. Something that all ADAS features have in common is the need for high-quality sensors and the associated processing of their data. The quantity of sensors per vehicle also increases rapidly with greater levels of autonomy. These sensors and their evolution provide new markets for thermal management materials within the automotive industry. In fact, IDTechEx’s new report, “Thermal Management for Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) 2023-2033” finds that the yearly market value for thermal interface materials (TIMs) in ADAS will increase 11-fold over the next 10 years.

What’s Changing with ADAS Components?

Cameras and radars are already ubiquitous in vehicles, but greater levels of autonomy will require larger sensor suites with greater capabilities in each sensor. IDTechEx is predicting that there will be more than a 6-fold increase in the yearly demand for automotive sensors including cameras, radars, and LiDARs by 2033. A key factor is integration, to fit more sensors to vehicles in an aesthetically pleasing fashion, the units will require smaller form factors leading to densification of components and hence thermal management challenges.

ADAS sensors are also often used in non-ideal environments for electronics requiring resistance to shock and vibration and, in certain cases, having to withstand heat from a combustion engine. For many sensor locations, active cooling will not be viable and in hot climates the temperatures of sensors could increase significantly whilst the vehicle is stationary.

Another factor to consider is data processing. More sensors and sensors with greater fidelity will generate more data that needs processing by the vehicle. Some parts of this will be done within the sensor units themselves, but a central computer or electronic control unit (ECU) will be required to communicate this information to the relevant vehicle controls. The greater data requirements lead to using more power-dense ICs (integrated circuits) and hence a greater thermal management requirement. We have already seen this with Tesla’s adoption of a liquid cooling circuit for their computer highlighting the heat generated.

Each sensor in the ADAS system has its own thermal material opportunities. Source: IDTechEx - “Thermal Management for Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) 2023-2033” Each sensor in the ADAS system has its own thermal material opportunities. Source: IDTechEx - “Thermal Management for Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) 2023-2033”

What are the Material Trends?

Like any modern electronics component, ADAS sensors and computers require thermal interface materials (TIMs) to help spread heat from the heat generating element to a heat sink or unit enclosure. Cameras, radars, LiDARs, and ECUs all have their own TIM requirements and as their designs evolve, so too do their TIM needs. Whilst the average ECU now may use a fairly typical TIM with 3-4 W/m×K thermal conductivity, the increased processing power required for autonomous functions could see this rise significantly.

Many of the sensors spread throughout the vehicle will be relatively small and low power, hence not necessarily needing a high-performance TIM. However, the rapidly growing market for ADAS features means that the volume demands for TIMs will increase significantly. IDTechEx is forecasting an increase in TIM demand of 3 times in just the next 5 years for ADAS sensors.

Concluding Thoughts

The rapid adoption of ADAS features and autonomy in the automotive market presents great opportunities for thermal management material suppliers with sensor design evolving and a growing market for ADAS components. IDTechEx’s report, “Thermal Management for Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) 2023-2033”, uses both primary and secondary research to cover these trends for ADAS sensor and computer evolution with a focus on thermal interface materials and die attach with additional chapters on combined EMI and thermal materials and radar radome materials. Company profiles/interviews are also included along with 10-year market forecasts in terms of material area, tonnage, and market value.

About IDTechEx  

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.IDTechEx.com

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Concrete is the second most consumed substance on the planet, trailing only potable water. Cement production – an essential ingredient for concrete - alone contributes to 7% of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. As the world will see the building stock double in size by 2050, pressure for the cement industry to decarbonize has risen swiftly.

While cement accounts for a small part of the volume of concrete, it is almost entirely responsible for concrete’s carbon emissions. Cement production is not only energy-intensive, but its inherent chemical reaction – calcination - releases gaseous CO2. Efforts on fossil fuel substitution and energy efficiency improvements have been spent to tackle power-related emissions. Preventing CO2 release from the calcination reaction is trickier, but innovative solutions such as Carbon capture and Utilization (CCU) can enable low- and even negative- carbon concrete. IDTechEx’s recent report “Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage 2021-2040" explores the technical and commercial aspects of CCU, and its potential to mitigate CO2 emissions.

Point-Source Carbon Capture during Cement Making

2015 08 04 074618The CO2 produced during the calcination reaction can be captured at point-source to be either stored safely underground (carbon storage) or used for a range of industrial applications (carbon utilization), including concrete manufacturing. These carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS)  technologies are likely to play a key role in the fight against climate change, with the UN estimating that CCUS could mitigate between 1.5 and 6.3 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalents per year by 2050.

Though CCUS technologies do exist commercially, they will need to scale up hundreds of times to have a meaningful impact on global emissions. As CO2 storage has no business model without a regulatory framework, CO2 utilization could boost the economic feasibility of CCU. However, for captured CO2 to be widely utilized as a raw material, CO2 marketplaces and distribution infrastructure will need to expand accordingly.

Carbon Utilization in Concrete Manufacturing

Using the CO2 captured on-site as a feedstock for concrete manufacturing could be an effective way to come full circle. A promising solution that applies this principle is carbon-cured concrete. In CO2-curing, captured CO2 is injected to accelerate the process, strengthen the concrete, and sequester the CO2 into the end-product.

The Montreal-based cleantech CarbiCrete uses this CO2-curing method to produce carbon negative precast concrete blocks. The negative emissions are achieved not only by utilizing CO2, but also by using an industrial waste as raw material, steel slag, eliminating the need for cement altogether. A more modest carbon footprint reduction of around 5% is promised by CarbonCure, although its technology has a broader market penetration, spanning both precast and ready-mix concrete. The company is also using captured CO2 to strengthen recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and to treat concrete wash water to allow for its reuse.

Another Canadian startup, Carbon Upcycling Technologies (CUT), makes additives for concrete by incorporating CO2 into industrial waste powder by-products such as fly ash. CUT’s resulting CO2-enhanced fly ash promises to improve concrete strength whilst reducing its carbon footprint by up to 25% through both sequestering CO2 and decreasing the demand for cement as a raw material by 10%.

Although some of these technologies promote reductions in operational and raw material costs, sourcing captured CO2 is likely to increase the overall price of the final product. With the appropriate policy incentives and cost reductions that comes with large-scale implementation, this “green premium” can be reduced, giving the edge needed for these low-carbon concrete alternatives to take off.

The Way Forward

Concrete manufacturers are facing a growing pressure to abate their emissions, even though the economic advantages of doing so are still uncertain. To capitalize from CCU technologies, concrete makers will need to commit to fundamental changes in their well-established manufacturing methods, which may involve lofty investments and partnerships with unfamiliar players, such as carbon capture companies and innovators licensing CO2 utilization solutions. Forward-thinking players are likely to future-proof their business, as they focus on both profits and sustainability.

For a more detailed analysis of the technological and economic factors in the CCUS industry over the next twenty years, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/CCUS. For the full portfolio of Green Technology research available from IDTechEx, see www.IDTechEx.com/Research/GreenTech.

About IDTechEx

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

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IDTechEx has recently released “Agricultural Robotics Market 2022-2032”, a market research report exploring the technical and market factors that are shaping the emerging industry around agricultural robotics. The agricultural robotics industry has grown quickly in recent years, spurred on by advances in robotics technology and artificial intelligence (AI), and may be set to help alleviate some of the labor issues that are currently threatening global agriculture.

Agricultural robotics, as covered in the new IDTechEx report, can be used to automate a range of agricultural tasks, including weeding, seeding, and harvesting of fresh fruit. Some applications of agricultural robotics, including robotic milking, are already developed industries attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, whereas others, such as fully autonomous tractors, are still emerging and may only reach full commercialization by the end of the decade.

IDTechEx’s latest report, “Agricultural Robotics Market 2022-2032”, examines the key application areas within the industry. These include robotic weeding, robotic seeding, autonomous tractors, autonomous implement carriers and platform robots, robotic fresh fruit and vegetable harvesting, agricultural drones, and robotic milking. The report highlights companies within each application area working to commercialize products, including analysis of technology readiness and comparisons between products.

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Agricultural Robotics Market 2022-2032 provides ten-year agricultural robotics market forecasts by application area and region. Source: IDTechEx

In addition to analyzing the key application areas within agricultural robots, IDTechEx also discusses the emerging technologies that are underpinning the growth of the agricultural robotics industry. These include positioning technologies such as RTK-GPS and LiDAR, artificial intelligence, imaging technologies such as hyperspectral imaging, soft gripper and end effector technology, and precision spraying technologies.

The report also includes a discussion of business models within the agricultural robotics industry, such as the advantages and challenges around pursuing a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) business model, as well as some of the market challenges facing the industry, such as regulations, issues around data ownership, and establishing trust with farmers. 10-year market forecasts are provided for the future of the agricultural robotics industry, including breakdowns by region and by application area. Based on IDTechEx’s technical and industry analysis, the agricultural robotics market size is forecast to reach $6.7 billion by 2032.

To find out more about IDTechEx’s technical and commercial analysis of the agricultural robotics industry, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Agri. For the full portfolio of Food & AgTech research from IDTechEx please visit www.IDTechEx.com/research/AgTech.

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IDTechEx have recently launched “Electrically Conductive Adhesives (ECAs) 2022-2032”, a market research report detailing the technology of ECAs, a form of conductive joining technology. Electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) are a growing competitor to lead-free solders and silver sintering technologies, and currently see use in several electronics applications, such as automotive electronics, consumer electronics, and display applications.

Electrically conductive adhesives “ECAs”, as covered in the new IDTechEx report, are formed from a conductive filler material and a structural resin material. The conductive filler, typically a metal powder, creates a conductive bridge across a join. Meanwhile, the structural polymer resin holds the join together, and the filler particles in place. This new report identifies common filler materials choices, including silver, nickel, and gold, and discusses the merits of each for use in ECAs. Additionally, common polymer resin materials, including epoxy, silicone, and acrylics, are also highlighted in this report.

In addition to these traditional ECAs, IDTechEx has identified several critical developments in ECA production, new products and technologies which may grow to transform the market.

An example of one of the key benefits of ECAs is the low processing temperature; much lower than alternative choices, such as solders. This allows ECAs to be used with a wider range of substrate materials, including temperate-sensitive polymer substrates. This makes ECAs a good choice of conductive joining technology for flexible elections applications. However, ECAs are not without their drawbacks. A key disadvantage is the high cost of raw materials required. This has impeded their widespread adoption in several applications - when other joining techniques can be used with the same effect, ECAs benefits may not outweigh the cost.

Key application areas for ECAs are divided into current technologies, which provide very large markets for this technology, and emerging technologies, which have smaller markets, but a lot more potential for growth. Examples of existing application sectors are in automotive and consumer electronics, as well as RFID and display applications. Examples of more emerging technologies which present great opportunities for ECAs are flexible, printed, and wearable electronics. Currently, ECAs may find use in products anywhere in our daily lives, from computer screens to phone circuit boards, and in the future, this may grow to encompass solar cells and even our clothes through wearable technologies.

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IDTechEx has forecast the Global ECA market value, divided by application, between 2022 and 2032. The figure above shows a section of this forecast. Source: IDTechEx “Electrically Conductive Adhesives (ECAs) 2022-2032

The report also breaks down the implementation process for ECAs into its key stages and discusses the main considerations for each stage, such as different application techniques, and the importance of thermally curing an adhesive.

Electrically Conductive Adhesives (ECAs) 2022-2032” contains key insights and commercial outlooks for ECAs, built upon primary interviews and product analysis. The report considers both isotropically conductive adhesives (ICAs) and anisotropically conductive adhesives (ACAs), analyzing them from both a technical and commercial point of view. The potential application areas for each type of adhesive are considered independently, as well as the difference in growth potentials, and future projections for these technologies.

This new IDTechEx report provides a comprehensive overview of the electrically conductive adhesive industry, including insight obtained from primary interviews with industry players, and analysis of commercially available ECA products. 10-year, granular, market forecasts are given for each application area, broken down both by application, and by the type of adhesives used.

With the potential to impact a wide range of emerging industries, ECAs could become a critical technology in the future, and preparation for their more widespread adoption may be key.

To find about more about ECAs, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/ECA, or for the full portfolio of research available from IDTechEx please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research.

About IDTechEx

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

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Thermoelectrics cools, heats, makes electricity and senses. Many proponents have stumbled with the wrong choice in the wrong applications. For example, trying to make electricity from car exhausts just as they become obsolete is a fool’s errand.  Gentherm failed with thermoelectric generators then pivoted to create a business of hundreds of millions of dollars yearly in thermal management, notably thermoelectric car-seat systems. Many big names are now chasing them in this, notably for the COVID-defying battery electric vehicle market.

First to analyze this big picture is the new IDTechEx report, “Thermoelectric Cooling, Heating, Harvesting: 90 Companies’ Achievements and Strategies Appraised with Roadmap 2022-2042”. It includes other successes arriving with vehicles on land, water, and air such as temperature-controlled head-up displays, laser headlights, autonomy components, and military jet aircon. However, the rapid adoption in medical and many other sectors is also well covered.

2015 08 04 074618Researched by multilingual, PhD-level analysts across the world, this unique report reveals how a more thoughtful approach to thermoelectric energy harvesting is seeing success in self-powered sensors and much besides. There is even a separate drill-down report on thermoelectric-generation research, sub-markets, and options.

Raghu Das, CEO of analysts IDTechEx advises, “Nowadays, the research pipeline is far less concerned with toxic, rare elements and optimizing parameters that are not key to commercial success. Industrialists are more open-minded about new applications. For example, there is a real possibility of thermoelectric generators becoming viable in geothermal energy and other high-power applications. We, therefore, take a careful look at 90 companies involved, from patents to research papers, product offerings, and financials. In some cases, big changes are likely in about ten years so we give a 20-year forecast and roadmap of company intentions. It is quite an eye-opener.”

In the overview, “Thermoelectric Cooling, Heating, Harvesting: 90 Companies’ Achievements and Strategies Appraised with Roadmap 2022-2042” the reader gains a full understanding of why thermoelectric cooling, heating, harvesting, and sensing is partly a success now, partly later. Leading patentors and countries are sequenced in pie charts by sector. Assess evolving optimal materials, parameters, designs, applications, technology, and strategy with a 90-company comparison, market-leader success factors and mistakes, company intentions, and a unit and value market forecast for 2022-2042. The 300+ pages cover activities emerging in the complete value chain but primarily modules and sub-systems, secondarily materials manufacturers and end-users.

Questions answered include:

  • 90 companies involved in thermoelectrics: profiles, SWOT reports, products, strategies, uniques?
  • Those that have the largest activity in which form of thermoelectrics and why?
  • Which companies to watch, what sectors do they target and why? 
  • Roadmap of company thermoelectric initiatives 2022-2042?
  • Global thermoelectric market units and $billion 2022-2042?
  • What worthwhile markets and dead ends are emerging?
  • Interpret patent and company research landscape?
  • What is technically required for the future?
  • Regional distribution of effort and why?

This 327-page report full of illustrations, charts, photographs and analysis includes:

  • Executive summary and conclusions

In 30 densely packed pages, this overview presents the regional split of companies, patents by leading companies and overall by type with trends and commentary. There is a market forecast and company and technology roadmap, both for 2022-2042.

See the explanation of the basic types and their market dynamics. View the explanation and significance of medical, flexible, and other types emerging. Understand the compounds involved and the significance of certain companies moving to eliminate toxic and rare materials. See the impact of COVID-19 on automotive applications graphed by IDTechEx, because of their importance to thermoelectrics and their vulnerability.

  • 83 Companies in thermoelectric cooling and temperature management by country and where they are in the value chain
  • 64 Companies in thermoelectric energy harvesting and sensors by country and where they are in the value chain
  • 90 thermoelectric materials, modules, subsystems and end-equipment companies with research thrust and products illustrated and appraised including company SWOT assessments

This is the longest part of the report with detailed information on each company including location, products, strategy, partnerships, initiatives, product ranges, and important research as appropriate with successes, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats identified.

For more information on this report, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/ThermoCo or for the full portfolio of research available from IDTechEx please visit www.IDTechEx.com/research.

About IDTechEx

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

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Antimicrobial technologies such as coatings and textiles containing silver and copper are helping people during the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring that whatever they touch, whether that is a door handle or their own mask, is free from live SARS-CoV-2 particles. But how exactly do these antimicrobial technologies work? How can a silver, copper or even polymeric coating kill microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, or in the case of COVID-19, viruses? This article explores the mechanisms of action, or the interactions, through which antimicrobials work. IDTechEx have recently published a research report on the antimicrobial technology industry – “Antimicrobial Technology Market 2021– 2031”. Please refer to www.IDTechEx.com/Antimicrobial for more information.

Damaging cell walls and membranes

Microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and mold are single cellular organisms surrounded by either a cell wall, cell membrane, or both. Disruption of this outside layer is a common way to kill microorganisms. Like all organisms, the insides of a microorganism are carefully regulated, and ideally, stays inside.

One way to destroy microorganisms is to disrupt the activity of the membrane. For example, silver-based technologies release silver ions that can bind to proteins within the membrane that regulate transport into and out of the cell. Similarly, high concentrations of zinc, itself essential to microorganisms for growth, can end up blocking ion channels that cross the membrane. When nutrients essential to the microorganism cannot enter, cell growth and reproduction is halted.

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A more drastic method is to simply break the microorganism open. A wide range of antimicrobial technologies generate reactive oxygen species such as peroxides and singlet oxygen that attack and break down the cell membrane. Others, such as silane quaternary compounds, simply pierce or rupture the membrane through mechanical means.

Binding and inhibiting essential cellular processes

Antimicrobial technologies can also wreak havoc from inside the cell. Metal-based technologies, such as silver, copper, and zinc, release ions that bind to components of the cell’s internal machinery, many of which are a part of pathways essential to the cell’s survival. Metallic ions, being positively charged, also interact with negatively charged genetic material such as DNA and RNA. Access to DNA and RNA is critical – without it, new proteins cannot be created, and in the case of DNA, cell division is halted when DNA cannot be copied.

Preventing adhesion to surfaces

A tactic to combat bacteria and mold is to simply prevent adherence to surfaces. Bacteria and mold have the ability to form biofilm, a dense film-like structure containing and protecting millions of microorganisms. The first step to forming biofilm, is adherence to a surface. Antimicrobial companies have created surfaces that provide an unfavorable environment for adhesion, resulting in a microorganism that simply lives out the rest of its short life in peace without growing and forming problematic films.

Does the mechanism of action matter?

In short, yes!

There is a great concern amongst scientists that antimicrobials that kill microorganisms from within can contribute to the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Almost all organisms have a mechanism called an efflux pump that is responsible for removing toxic substances. Extensive exposure to low levels of toxins pressures microorganisms to develop and evolve more effective efflux pumps, which the microorganism can also use to pump out antibiotics.

As far, scientists have only managed to induce resistance to antimicrobial technologies in the laboratory, but it will become a possibility in the wild if antimicrobial technologies are used irresponsibly. Antibiotic resistance is deemed by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity – without effective antibiotics, many routine conditions and medical procedures today will become a matter of life and death.

IDTechEx has found that a large portion of antimicrobial companies are developing silver-based technologies. Source: IDTechEx - “Antimicrobial Technology Market 2021– 2031

IDTechEx have analyzed over 100 companies in the antimicrobial technology market, many of which are developing technologies to circumvent the problem of antimicrobial resistance. For more information on the topic, please refer to www.IDTechEx.com/Antimicrobial, or for the full portfolio of Healthcare related research available from IDTechEx please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/Healthcare.

About IDTechEx

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

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Monday, 29 January 2018 10:36

Desalination Orders Flood In

2015 08 04 074618For much of the last decade, there has been oversupply of desalination plants but that is less true today. Business is picking up globally, first with a wave of large plants in the main. Traditionally, most desalination has been carried out in areas such as the Middle East, North Africa and California in the USA and they continue to invest heavily. The largest impediments to faster adoption is cost and there are concerns about gaseous emissions from their power plants on site or at their grid supplier.  The giant plants can have water cost escalation from grid supply outages and monopoly pricing and by under utilisation. Security of large plants is beginning to be a worry. All of this is being tackled by off grid zero emission electricity for desalination using new technology, process improvements and plants that perform many functions as analysed in the new IDTechEx report, “Desalination: Off Grid Zero Emission 2018-2028”. It predicts that, coming from very little in 2018, off grid zero emission desalination, including for brackish water, will be a rapidly growing $35 billion market in 2028. The report looks closely at its roadmap of exciting new desalination and electricity technologies that will boost performance and reduce cost, in particular the two reducing what is often the largest cost element – electricity. Here is some of the progress in the orderbooks for desalination as the problems and solutions rapidly embrace replenishing water tables, lakes and rivers, not just supplying current agricultural, industrial and drinking water needs.

China

The huge population of China is going to get very thirsty as some of its water tables are depleted. The Chinese Government says that, by 2030, the water shortage in China’s coastal areas will be 21.4 billion cubic meters a day so it plans three million tonnes of desalinated water a day by 2020. Progress towards this was rapid to 2010, then stalled, most going to industry because domestic price was unacceptable so regional government prevaricated. However, in 2018, China has 131 seawater desalination plants still 66.6% supplying industry. The official view is that, “China will speed up the legislation on seawater utilisation, expand the use of seawater and address public concerns over drinking desalinated water,” so no more kicking the (water) can down the road. Beijing plans a quadrupling of seawater desalination to 3.6 billion liters daily by 2020. Meanwhile, just one wastewater project over five years is clocking in at $15 billion. The Chinese Government will ensure China makes its own desalination creating a major exports but it is a long way from doing that.

India

India is the conundrum, with its states often failing recycle efficiently or cooperate in water conservation or diversion so parts are water rich and other parts such as Tamilnadu have dry rivers and parched land. Most of India cannot afford desalination at current prices yet, in much of India, the water table drops 0.3 meters yearly and its population is set to overtake China. India has some desalination plants and if desalination energy costs come down, for example by using abundant solar power, wind and ocean power, bigger plants, standardised smaller plants designed and made locally and solar and wind power pumping water inland it will have much more desalination. Intakes and effluent killing sea life and excessive water use by agriculture remain among the issues.  

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi has invited international firms to express interest in building one of the world’s biggest water desalination plants as the capital of the United Arab Emirates boosts capacity to meet rising demand, a senior official said January 2018. The project, estimated to cost between $600 million and $1.2 billion, will have capacity of 200 million gallons per day, Adil al-Saeedi, acting director of privatisation at the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA), told Reuters. Companies are likely to be prequalified by the second quarter of this year with a developer for the project selected by the third quarter, he said. The developer will own up to 40% of a special purpose vehicle that will sign a long-term agreement to sell water to ADWEA, which will directly or indirectly own the rest of the equity in the project. Abu Dhabi’s current water production capacity is around 960 million gallons per day from 10 desalination plants.

Egypt

Egypt is building the world’s largest desalination plant. Another giant is proposed in response to an anticipated reduction in Nile river water flows into Egypt when Ethiopia completes construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The dam's completion was expected in 2017 but the project is behind schedule. Egypt relies almost entirely on the Nile for water, and estimates suggest that filling up the new dam will reduce Nile water flowing into Egypt by 20 per cent. In November 2017, talks between Egypt and Ethiopia over sharing Nile river water broke down. Under the terms of the 1959 Nile Waters Agreement, Egypt is entitled to 55.5 billion m3 and Sudan gets 18.5bn m3 of Nile waters, however Ethiopia was not party to the agreement. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is expected to be the biggest hydroelectric dam in Africa when it completes, with capacity to generate 6,450 MW.

Morocco

In Morocco, Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhannouch's "Moroccan Sahara" showpiece wind-powered desalination project will provide irrigation for 5,000 hectares of agricultural land in the Dakhla Oued-Eddahab region.

Kenya

Kenya plans Simoni Integrated Development Project (SIDEP) to regenerate a former slave trading port into an international import and export hub including a desalination plant as part of an electricity generation scheme whose cost is pegged at KES 9.3 trillion ($90 billion). The desalination plant will generate 10,000 MW and reportedly it may be capacitive – not a popular technology. The plant will support mining, mineral processing, and agriculture. SIDEP is 20 ys KES 9.3 trillion ($90 billion).

South Africa

Site preparation for the Monwabisi desalination plant has kicked off in Cape Town as the City prepares projects to bring additional water supply online to combat the unprecedented drought. The Monwabisi desalination plant is one of seven projects earmarked for development in the first phase of the City’s Additional Water Supply Programme. The City of Cape Town’s seven projects include the Monwabisi, Strandfontein, V&A Waterfront, and the Cape Town Harbour desalination plants, the Atlantis and Cape Flats Aquifer projects, and the Zandvliet water recycling project which will collectively produce an additional 196 million litres per day between February and July 2018. In addition, the City has 12 projects at an advanced planning stage.

USA

An expected $10 billion investment 2017-2023 will add 5.7 million cubic meters per day of new production capacity. This capacity is expected to double by 2030.

For more see http://www.idtechex.com/desalination and find out more about IDTechEx at www.IDTechEx.com.

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