This fabric gives a new meaning to the phrase “power suit.”
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology are developing a fabric that can simultaneously harvest energy from both sunshine and motion.
Combining these two types of electricity into one textile paves the way for developing a garment that can act as its own energy source to power devices like smartphones and global positioning systems, according to Georgia Tech research published this week in the journal Nature Energy.
“This hybrid power textile presents a novel solution to charging devices in the field from something as simple as the wind blowing on a sunny day,” said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regents professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Materials Science and Engineering.
The fabric, which is 320 micrometers thick, was constructed with a commercial textile machine to weave together solar cells from lightweight polymer fibers with fiber-based triboelectric nanogenerators. These nanogenerators use a combination of triboelectric effect and electrostatic induction to generate a small amount of electrical power from mechanical motions like rotating, sliding, or vibrating.
Using a piece of fabric about the size of an 8 x 10 sheet of office paper, Wang’s team attached it to a rod, forming a colorful flag. The researchers rolled down the windows in a car and let the flag blow in the wind. Through this experiment, a 4 by 5 centimeter piece charged up a 2 mF commercial capacitor to 2 volts in one minute using sunlight and movement.
“That indicates it has a decent capability of working even in a harsh environment,” Wang said.
Such fabric, Wang believes, could be woven together with strands of wool and integrated into tents, curtains, or wearable garments.
“The fabric is highly flexible, breathable, lightweight, and adaptable to a range of uses,” he said.