Flexible self-powered textile formed by bridging photoactive and electrochemically active fiber electrodes

Due to the increase in public daily usage of wearable electronics, many attempts have been made to develop self-powered textiles that are deformable, breathable, flexible and lightweight. However, desirable self-powered textiles have not been realized at an applicable size because it is challenging or even impossible to integrate energy-harvesting and energy-storing fibers with numerous small joints between the energy-harvesting and energy-storing parts. Herein, by bridging photoactive and electrochemically active fibers via warp yarns, we realized flexible self-powered textiles on a large scale using an industrial loom. This novel weaving method significantly enhanced the integration efficiency and enabled the production of self-powered textiles without any external electrical connection. The textiles showed high powering performances, e.g., the record power conversion efficiency among those of homologous photovoltaic devices. The self-powered textiles were thin, lightweight, flexible, and breathable, with properties similar to those of daily clothes.