Micro-cable structured textile for simultaneously harvesting solar and mechanical energy

Jun Chen, Yi Huang, Nannan Zhang, Haiyang Zou, Ruiyuan Liu, Changyuan Tao, Xing Fan () and Zhong Lin Wang ()
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Jun Chen: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Yi Huang: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University
Nannan Zhang: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University
Haiyang Zou: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Ruiyuan Liu: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Changyuan Tao: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University
Xing Fan: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University
Zhong Lin Wang: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Nature Energy, 2016, vol. 1, issue 10, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Developing lightweight, flexible, foldable and sustainable power sources with simple transport and storage remains a challenge and an urgent need for the advancement of next-generation wearable electronics. Here, we report a micro-cable power textile for simultaneously harvesting energy from ambient sunshine and mechanical movement. Solar cells fabricated from lightweight polymer fibres into micro cables are then woven via a shuttle-flying process with fibre-based triboelectric nanogenerators to create a smart fabric. A single layer of such fabric is 320 μm thick and can be integrated into various cloths, curtains, tents and so on. This hybrid power textile, fabricated with a size of 4 cm by 5 cm, was demonstrated to charge a 2 mF commercial capacitor up to 2 V in 1 min under ambient sunlight in the presence of mechanical excitation, such as human motion and wind blowing. The textile could continuously power an electronic watch, directly charge a cell phone and drive water splitting reactions.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/nenergy.2016.138

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