Efficient fiber shaped zinc bromide batteries and dye sensitized solar cells for flexible power sources

This work presents flexible fiber shaped zinc bromide batteries and dye sensitized solar cells for efficient energy conversion and storage. The rechargeable FBs based on zinc bromide chemistry achieved a capacity up to 19 mA h mL(-1) and an energy efficiency of 69%. The 31.5 cm long flexible fiber dye sensitized solar cell (FDSC) based on a titanium dioxide bilayer exhibits an efficiency (h) of 4.01% (6.68% in the diffuse model), which is the longest single FDSC with the highest power output (5.99 mW). The hybrid energy system with these two types of flexible power fibers achieved a promising overall energy conversion efficiency of 3.4%. All the preparation is easy to handle and suitable for large scale production and this study may pave the way for flexible, lightweight, and efficient power sources.