Inspired by the X-Men series of films, Jayan Thomas, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida's (UCF) Nanoscience and Technology Center, and his team created a garment that absorbs and stores solar energy.
Professor Jayan Thomas has been working on the development of high-density supercapacitors using nanotechnology. In the 1989 movie "Back to the Future 2", the protagonist Martin has a pair of Nike shoes that can automatically tie the laces. Inspired by this, Thomas is trying to use nanotechnology to make solar-powered clothing in new research.
He said in the press release: "This film inspired me. I think if you add an automatic charging device to your clothes, you can realize the scene in the movie, which is quite cool."
In this study published in Nature Communications, Thomas and his colleagues used nanotechnology to create a strip of material called a "copper strip" that is thin and soft and can be embedded in clothing. And can absorb and store solar energy at the same time. Each "copper strip" consists of a solar panel that shares the electrodes and a supercapacitor that stores energy. The "copper strips" can be woven together with yarn to achieve wearability.
It is understood that existing portable solar panels are generally unable to store energy, so if the solar energy absorbed by the panel cannot be immediately connected to the powered device, an extra larger battery is needed to store energy. Thomas's creative research has greatly improved the portability of solar cells. Therefore, in addition to the Nike shoes used to make automatic laces, or the clothes to charge the phone, this research will be more widely used in electronic technology and even military fields.
Soldiers fighting on the battlefield often need to carry battery equipment weighing more than a dozen kilograms because they do not have a source of electricity in the march. The “solar clothes†worn on the body enable them to automatically collect and store solar energy during the march. In addition, portable solar technology may also be applied to the manufacture of drones and electric vehicles in the future.
Regarding the idea of ​​“solar clothingâ€, Thomas and his team are further studying how to better adjust the combination of batteries and capacitors in the “copper belt†to make it more flexible. At present, it can't achieve a good bend, and how to clean it as a piece of clothing can be a hassle. It seems that if we really want to put the solar battery on, we have to wait for a while.
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