English

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

895
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
  • Beyond Limits: The Amazing Power of Water in Laser Development

    Water helps to generate ultra continuous white lasers with an extremely wide wavelength range.Researchers have made significant progress in creating ultra wideband white laser sources, which have a wide wavelength range from ultraviolet to far-infrared. These advanced lasers are used in various fields, including imaging, femtosecond chemistry, telecommunications, laser spectroscopy, sensing, and u...

    2024-02-26
    See translation
  • Scientists build high-power cladding-pumped Raman fiber laser in 1.2 μm band

    Laser sources operating in the 1.2 μm band have some unique applications in photodynamic therapy, biomedical diagnostics, and oxygen sensing. In addition, they can be used as pump sources for mid-infrared optical parameter generation and visible light generation through frequency doubling.Laser generation in the 1.2 μm band has been achieved by different solid-state lasers, including semicon...

    2024-01-31
    See translation
  • LOTMAXX Announces the Launch of a Multifunctional 3D Printer with Laser Cutting Function

    LOTMAXX has announced the launch of the ET model, a new type of 3D printer that can also be used as a laser cutting machine. According to the manufacturer, the core component is a fast direct extruder with a printing speed of up to 500 millimeters per second.LOTMAXX ET features an all metal casing with a printing volume of 250 x 250 x 265 mm. According to the announcement, as a special feature, th...

    2023-11-09
    See translation
  • Application of laser technology in electric vehicles to improve safety and reduce rusting

    Trumpf has developed a laser application to improve the safety of electric vehicles, which can be used for adhesive and coating preparation in battery production, as well as anti-corrosion of aluminum components. This not only enhances safety but also prevents rusting of the vehicle.“Selective surface processing with lasers is a clean and fast alternative to chemical processes in the automotive in...

    10-13
    See translation
  • China University of Science and Technology realizes millisecond level integrated quantum memory

    Recently, the team led by Academician Guo Guangcan from the University of Science and Technology of China has made significant progress in the field of integrated quantum storage. The research team led by Li Chuanfeng and Zhou Zongquan has improved the storage time of integrated quantum memory from 10 microseconds to milliseconds based on their original noiseless photon echo (NLPE) scheme, while s...

    03-31
    See translation