WE OUGHT to take a leaf out of their book. Trees are basically clad in solar cells, and soon we could be doing the same using energy-harvesting fabrics.
Qingwen Li from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Suzhou and colleagues wanted to exploit a new type of solar cell made of a mineral called perovskite. Flat versions of these cells are able to convert 20 per cent of the energy in sunlight into electricity. They can also be made 400 times thinner than conventional silicon cells – so thin that they are bendy.
To put the cells into weavable threads, the team coated carbon nanotubes in several layers of material, including the crucial perovskite, silver to increase the conductivity, and a protective transparent film.
When woven into cloth, the fibre converts about 3 per cent of the solar energy hitting it into electricity – a far cry from the flat sheets, although Li says this can be improved (Advanced Materials, doi.org/f272zw).
Perovskite-infused clothes could be ideal as chargers for the wearable tech gadgets that seem to surface every week. The main problem to solve is that contact with air and moisture currently causes the cloth to stop producing electricity after just four days.
This article appeared in print under the headline “Solar threads will re-energise your look”
More on these topics: