Advances and Future Prospects of Wearable Textile‐ and Fiber‐Based Solar Cells

Abstract

Carbon neutrality is one of the most urgent global missions and has promoted the development of clean and renewable energy sources. Sustainable photovoltaic cells have become ideal candidates for green energy harvesting owing to their high power conversion efficiencies and low production costs, which can efficiently reduce the carbon emissions. In recent years, with the increasing advancements in wearable electronics, flexible photovoltaic textile devices have been regarded as the most promising energy resources for Internet of Things. Accordingly, herein, an up‐to‐date account of the recent advancements in modern textile‐based solar cells (i.e., organic, perovskite, and dye‐sensitized solar cells) based on both fibers and fabrics for highly effective harvesting of solar energy is provided, and their fundamental designs and optimization strategies are comprehensively reviewed. This review emphasizes the unique characteristics, underlying mechanisms and potential applications of textile‐based solar cells. Moreover, a modern perspective on both challenges and opportunities in the advancements of the interesting textile‐based solar cells embedded in wearable devices is elucidated. This review offers new insights into advanced energy technologies and smart wearable devices that would facilitate multidisciplinary integration of basic science, device engineering, industrial applications, and other scientific domains.

Advances in Smart Photovoltaic Textiles

“…For instance, the prevalent use of liquid electrolytes in fibrous DSSCs results in cumbersome device packaging and reduced stability. In contrast, fibrous PSCs and OSCs address these concerns by eliminating liquid components . Despite this favorable attribute, the commercialization of such textile-based SCs faces challenges related to output efficiency, stability, and durability, hindering their widespread market acceptance.…”

“…However, overcoming these existing challenges and achieving fully multifunctional, self-powered textiles that are suitable for commercialization will require significant effort. In the future, integrating SCs with sensors, actuators, electrochromic, shape memory, and even self-repair capabilities will be highly appealing for the development of multifunctional and self-powered personalized healthcare textiles …”

Alkoxy-Substituted Anthrabisthiadiazole–Benzodithiophene-Based Wide-Band-Gap Semiconducting Polymers for High-Performance Non-Fullerene Solar Cells

“…28,29 In our previous work, we aimed to extend the πconjugation of BT-based acceptor units. To achieve this, we synthesized alkoxy-and acyloxy-substituted anthra[1,2-c:5,6-c′]bis( [1,2,5]thiadiazole)s (ATzs) as electron acceptor units, and subsequently incorporated them into D−A polymers in conjunction with quaterthiophene (PATz4T-oR 1 R 2 and PATz4T-a12R). 30−32 The 6,12-positions of the ATz core offer a convenient avenue for introducing various functional groups, enabling facile adjustment of the HOMO/LUMO energy levels and band gap of ATz-based polymers.…”

Intrinsically Stretchable Fiber‐Shaped Solar Cells with Polymer‐Based Active Layer

“…Fiber-shaped organic solar cells (FOSCs) with robust mechanical flexibility and stretchability show great potential in portable wearable electronic devices. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Recently, the initial attempt of the intrinsically stretchable FOSCs was successfully demonstrated based on the binary system of polymer donor and nonfullerene small molecular acceptor (NF-SMA). [5] Thanks to the stretchable fiber electrode and prestrain strategy, the prepared stretchable FOSCs can maintain 90% initial performance within 30% strain.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] Recently, the initial attempt of the intrinsically stretchable FOSCs was successfully demonstrated based on the binary system of polymer donor and nonfullerene small molecular acceptor (NF-SMA). [5] Thanks to the stretchable fiber electrode and prestrain strategy, the prepared stretchable FOSCs can maintain 90% initial performance within 30% strain. However, due to the limited stretchability nature of small molecules, the mechanical stretchability properties of the FOSCs based on NF-SMA-based active layer remain for further improvement.…”