Polymer solar cell textiles with interlaced cathode and anode fibers

Abstract

To produce next generation flexible electronics, a lot of effort has been made to develop organic photovoltaic textiles that may deform in three dimensions and that are also breathable from fiber-shaped polymer solar cells where the cathode and anode fibers are twisted together. However, a desired organic photovoltaic textile has not been realized at an applicable size, because it is challenging or even impossible to effectively connect a large amount of twisted fiber electrodes in it. Herein, through the design of an interlaced structure of cathode and anode fibers, we have realized expected organic photovoltaic textiles at the applicable scale of meters for the first time using an industrial loom. This novel structure has successfully integrated the device fabrication, textile weaving and circuit connection all in one process, which significantly enhances the performance of the organic photovoltaic textiles and facilitates their commercialization. The polymer solar cell textiles were thin, lightweight and flexible with high working stability, and were very close to materials used for daily clothes, affording them potential in a variety of emerging new application fields such as wearable electronics, biomedical electronics and artificial intelligence.