Abstract
Increasing demands for wearable energy sources and highly flexible, lightweight photovoltaic devices have stimulated the development of textile-structured solar cells. However, the former approach of wire-type solar cell fabrication, followed by weaving of these devices, has had limited success, due to device failure caused by high friction forces and tension forces during the weaving process. To overcome this limitation, we present a new approach for textile solar cell fabrication, in which dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) electrodes are incorporated into the textile during the weaving process, using the textile warp as a spacer to maintain the DSSC structure. Porous, dye-loaded TiO2-coated holed metal ribbon and Pt nanoparticle-loaded carbon yarn were used as the photoanode and counterelectrode, respectively. The highly flexible textile-based solar cell was fabricated using a common weaving process with a loom. The inserted DSSCs in the textile demonstrated an energy conversion efficiency of 2.63% (at 1 sun, 1.5 A.M.). Our results revealed that additional performance enhancement was possible by considering other electrode materials and textile structures, as well as where and how the DSSC electrodes are inserted. In addition, we demonstrated that the inserted DSSCs could be electrically connected using a parallel configuration.
Highlights
Textile-related technologies, including weaving, printing, and dyeing, have been developed and modified throughout human history over the last millennium
Metal-based meshes are highly bendable and electrically conductive but the sandwich-type cell structure is a fundamental problem for highly bendable dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC)
New fabrication techniques are required for textile DSSCs to accommodate the textile form and photovoltaic performance
Summary
Increasing demands for wearable energy sources and highly flexible, lightweight photovoltaic devices have stimulated the development of textile-structured solar cells. For the photoanode electrode, consisting of a dye-loaded, porous TiO2 nanoparticle film and holed stainless steel (SUS304) ribbon, the thickness of the TiO2 layer can have a marked effect on the energy conversion performance. The diameter of the nylon wires used to support the TiO2-coated stainless steel ribbon or Pt-deposited carbon fiber filaments is another critical factor that may improve the performance of the inserted DSSCs in the textile. The diameter of the nylon wire supporting the stainless steel ribbon may affect the distance between the photoanode and the counterelectrode, as well as the tension force among the nylon wires that are arranged as warps (Fig. 3(a)) Another important consideration is the spacing between the photoanode metal ribbon and the carbon yarn counterelectrode for the textile DSSC. The impedance spectra were acquired under open-circuit, 1-sun conditions
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