Flexible self-powered textile formed by bridging photoactive and electrochemically active fiber electrodes

Abstract

Due to the increase in public daily usage of wearable electronics, many attempts have been made to develop self-powered textiles that are deformable, breathable, flexible and lightweight. However, desirable self-powered textiles have not been realized at an applicable size because it is challenging or even impossible to integrate energy-harvesting and energy-storing fibers with numerous small joints between the energy-harvesting and energy-storing parts. Herein, by bridging photoactive and electrochemically active fibers via warp yarns, we realized flexible self-powered textiles on a large scale using an industrial loom. This novel weaving method significantly enhanced the integration efficiency and enabled the production of self-powered textiles without any external electrical connection. The textiles showed high powering performances, e.g., the record power conversion efficiency among those of homologous photovoltaic devices. The self-powered textiles were thin, lightweight, flexible, and breathable, with properties similar to those of daily clothes.