AsianScientist (May 19, 2014) – Chinese researchers have developed efficient solar cells based on flexible textile electrodes that can be integrated into fabrics. This research has been published in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

Thread-like solar cells that can be woven into textiles have previously been produced by twisting two electrically conducting fibers together as electrodes. However, it has proven difficult to make efficient, thread-shaped electrodes of a sufficient length. Furthermore, the wire-shaped cells are limited to lengths of a few millimeters and it is difficult to connect a large number of wire-shaped solar cells to generate adequate power.

A team from Fudan University and Tongji University in Shanghai has developed an alternative approach for the production of flexible solar cells that can be integrated into fabrics. Their method is based on textile electrodes that are stacked into layers.

Solar cells need a working electrode that captures light, as well as a counter electrode and an electrolyte. Researchers led by Dr. Peng Huisheng produced a working electrode composed of titanium wires woven into a fabric and perpendicularly layered with titanium dioxide nanotubes filled with light-absorbing dye.

For more on this article: AsianScientist