Textile based wearable polymer solar cells for medical/healthcare applications
Seok Ho Cho
Department of Clothing and Textiles, Chonnam National University, 77, Yongbong-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
jsh818@jnu.ac.kr
Abstract
Among wearable electronics, textile-based wearable electronics, so called smart textile, are receiving a great attention as a next generation technology. Because textiles are closely connected with humans in daily life, integrating electronic devices into textiles allows maximum convenience. In particular, a lot of research has been conducted to utilize smart textile technology for medical and healthcare area. To achieve the successful commercialization of smart textile, integration of power sources to the smart textile should be implemented because all electronic components integrated into smart textile require continuous power supply. The ideal power source for smart textile applications must satisfy both high flexibility and light weight. From this point of view, polymer solar cells(PSCs) are one of the attractive candidate for lightweight, extremely flexible and flat power source that can be integrated into various textile platform for supplying electrical power. However, relatively low energy conversion efficiency and washing durability are considered as disadvantages of PSCs.
In this presentation, we will discuss about the way for improving energy conversion efficiency and washing durability of PSCs by using nanomaterials and nanophotonics. Through these improvements, it will be expected that the successful commercialization of smart textile technology for medical and healthcare is promoted.
Short Bio
Seok Ho Cho received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, South Korea, in 2010 and 2016, respectively, all in electrical engineering.
He is currently an Assistant Professor with the Department of Clothing and Textiles, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea. His research interests include organic electronics and textile/fiber based electronics for various applications.