研究人員開發出新的太陽能紡織技術 | University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers team up to develop solar textiles

研究人員開發出新的太陽能紡織技術

美國的研究人員聯手開發一種新的太陽能紡織技術，他們聲稱，整合了技術並克服製造過程的諸多挑戰。

隨著威斯康辛大學校友研究基金會(WARF)的捐款，Wisconsin-Madison大學能源研究員和化學助理教授Trisha Andrew、人類生態學系的設計研究計劃助理教授Marianne Fairbanks以及太陽能充電手袋聯合創始人Noon Solar，已經連手發展太陽能紡織品。

儘管不是第一次創造太陽能紡織品，Andrew說，合作過程中，整合技術與製造過程所要克服的挑戰，在於逐漸降低價格，對消費者有吸引力的太陽能電池。

Andrew和她的團隊目前正在用高分子聚合物為不同的織物類型與結構做塗層，此舉可為布料增加10倍的導電性。一旦完全塗覆，該織物將作為底電極，在其上的基礎層則將做為構建太陽能電池的其餘部分。

到明年這個時候，研究人員希望能利用這個塗層技術開發出原型，他們的目標是希望能驗證這個概念的可行性，將每個元件織在一起，利用兩種染料、兩個電極，做出一個具有全功能的配備的連接點。

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University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers team up to develop solar textiles

A new faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Marianne Fairbanks, is bringing decades of experience with dyes, fibres and design to the development of a solar textile technology.

“I found myself on a campus full of brilliant people of all disciplines so I just Googled solar research UW-Madison,” said Fairbanks, assistant professor in the School of Human Ecology's design studies programme and co-founder of Noon Solar, a Chicago-based company that made solar-charging handbags.

The search led her to Trisha Andrew, specialising in energy research and assistant professor of chemistry at UW-Madison. Andrew draws from the fields of chemistry, materials science and electrical engineering to develop low-cost, lightweight solar cells. Her most recent innovation is an organic dye-based solar cell deposited onto paper.

Increasing fabric’s conductivity tenfold

Andrew and her team are currently coating different weave types and structures with a polymer that increases the fabric’s conductivity tenfold. Once fully coated, the fabric will serve as the bottom electrode, and a base layer on which to build the rest of the solar cell.
“The idea of building solar cells on fabric is potentially transformative,” explained Andrew. “If we take this technology to grow devices on material, then we could talk wearable technology, as well as solar curtains, solar umbrellas, solar tents, or applications for the military.”

Though Fairbanks and Andrew are not the first to conceive of solar textiles, their collaboration overcomes a manufacturing challenge that Andrew says is slowing the rollout of cheap, consumer-friendly solar cells, namely the early integration of technologies emerging from the lab with actual manufacturing processes, the University reports. “There's no one out there, there's no designer working with a device person trying to do this — that's us — and that's what really excites me about this project even today,” said Andrew.

Experimenting

With a recent grant funded by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and awarded by UW-Madison's Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education, Fairbanks and Andrew have begun experimenting with different ways to create solar textiles.

One project has materials science and engineering graduate student Lushuai Zhang using vapour phase chemistry to coat different fabric weave types and structures with a polymer that increases its conductivity. Once the weave is at least 10 times more conductive than it was before coating, the fabric will act as the bottom electrode on which Zhang will deposit two different dyes and a top electrode — the contact between the four deposits making up a complete and functional solar cell.

A second idea grew from Fairbanks' knowledge of weaving. Since the four layers of a dye-based solar cell actually don't need to be placed down in sequence — the point being only to create the right contact between the four components — Fairbanks suggested they try creating a spool of thread for each of the components. If Fairbanks could then weave those threads together, two electrodes and two dyes, the weave's cross-sections would also create the contact points necessary for a fully functional device.

Original Article: Innovation In Textile