English

Scientists have developed a solar cell that can bend and soak in water

972
2024-05-08 15:48:46
See translation

Researchers and their partners at the RIEKN Creative Physical Science Research Center have created a flexible and waterproof organic photovoltaic film. This innovative thin film can integrate solar cells into clothing, maintaining functionality even in rainwater or washing cycles.

One of the potential uses of organic photovoltaic technology is to manufacture wearable electronic devices that can be attached to clothing, such as monitoring medical devices without the need for battery replacement. However, researchers have found that achieving waterproofing without the use of additional layers is very difficult, as the additional layer reduces the flexibility of the film.

Breakthroughs in Photovoltaic Technology
Now, a group of scientists publishing research results in Nature Communications can precisely achieve this. The challenge they face is overcoming a key limitation of previous equipment, which is that it is difficult to make it waterproof without reducing flexibility. Photovoltaic films typically consist of several layers. One layer is the active layer, which captures energy of a certain wavelength from sunlight and uses this energy to separate electrons and "electron holes" into cathodes and anodes. Then, electrons and holes can be reconnected through circuits to generate electrical energy. In previous devices, the layers for transmitting electron holes were usually generated sequentially through a layered approach.

But in the current work, researchers deposit the anode layer (in this case, the silver electrode) directly onto the active layer, thereby forming better adhesion between layers. They used a hot annealing process to expose the film to air at 85 degrees Celsius for 24 hours. The first author of the paper, Xiong Sixing, said, "Forming a thin film layer is very challenging, but we are pleased to have completed this task and ultimately be able to produce a thin film with a thickness of only 3 microns. We look forward to seeing the test results."

The results seen by the group from the test are very encouraging. Firstly, they completely immersed the film in water for four hours and found that its performance still had 89% of its initial performance. Then, they stretched the film 30% underwater 300 times and found that even with such punishment, the film still maintained 96% performance. In the final test, they placed the film in the washing machine for cyclic washing, and the film withstood the test, which was unprecedented before.

One of the corresponding authors of the paper, Kenjiro Fukuda, said, "What we have created is a method that can be widely used. Looking ahead, by improving the stability of the device in other aspects, such as exposure to air, strong light, and mechanical stress, we plan to further develop our ultra-thin organic solar cells to enable them to be used in truly practical wearable devices."

Source: sciechdaily

Related Recommendations
  • Progress in research on intrinsic flexible and stretchable optoelectronic devices in the Institute of Chemistry

    Organic polymer semiconductor materials, due to their unique molecular structure and weak van der Waals interactions, are endowed with the characteristics of soluble processing and easy flexibility, and have potential applications in portable and implantable medical monitoring devices. A highly flexible, skin conformal, and excellent spatial resolution X-ray detector is expected to be integrated w...

    2024-04-09
    See translation
  • 20 million dollars! Undersea fiber optic agreement reached, fully operational by 2026

    Recently, Confluence Networks LLC has announced a long-term partnership agreement with Laser Light Communications Inc., a developer and provider of software controlled optical network services.According to the agreement, Laser Light will adopt Confluence-1 submarine fiber optic network, which Confluence Networks is about to launch, as the core part of its global network. The protocol will last for...

    2024-05-24
    See translation
  • Coherent lasers will help expand the scale of fusion tokamaks

    Coherent company's excimer lasers can be more widely used in fusion reactor applications, after the US based photonics giant signed a "letter of intent" with Japan's Faraday 1867 Holdings.Faraday 1867, headquartered in Kanagawa Prefecture, is said to have become the world's leading manufacturer of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tape through its subsidiary Faraday Japan factory.This tape is...

    2023-10-11
    See translation
  • Researchers use spectroscopic methods to characterize ancient Egyptian mining gemstones

    In a recent study published in the journal AIP Advances, researchers used molecular and elemental spectroscopy techniques such as laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to characterize mines in ancient Egypt.In this study, researchers examined various gemstones that can be traced back to the era of the pharaohs. The team...

    2023-08-31
    See translation
  • Researchers develop innovative quantum dot lasers for advanced frequency combs

    Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara have made significant breakthroughs in laser technology, introducing a groundbreaking quantum dot mode-locked laser that allows for independent generation of amplitude and frequency modulation combs from a single device. This cutting-edge dual mode laser paves the way for the creation of small-sized and energy-efficient frequency combs for...

    2023-11-17
    See translation