Direct Sun-Driven Artificial Heliotropism for Solar Energy Harvesting Based on a Photo-Thermomechanical Liquid-Crystal Elastomer Nanocomposite

被引：145

作者：

Li, Chensha ^{[1
]}

Liu, Ye ^{[1
]}

Huang, Xuezhen ^{[1
]}

Jiang, Hongrui ^{[1
,2
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Wisconsin, Dept Elect & Comp Engn, Madison, WI 53706 USA

[2] Univ Wisconsin, Mat Sci Program, Madison, WI 53706 USA

来源：

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS | 2012年 / 22卷 / 24期

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

artificial heliotropism; solar energy harvesting; photo-thermomechanical actuation; liquid-crystal elastomers; nanocomposites; PHOTOMOBILE POLYMER MATERIALS; NEMATIC ELASTOMERS; SYSTEMS; LIGHT; ACTUATORS; NANOTUBES; CELLS; FILM;

D O I：

10.1002/adfm.201202038

中图分类号：

O6 [化学];

学科分类号：

0703 ;

摘要：

Inspired by heliotropism in nature, artificial heliotropic devices that can follow the sun for increased light interception are realized. The mechanism of the artificial heliotropism is realized via direct actuation by the sunlight, eliminating the need for additional mechatronic components and resultant energy consumption. For this purpose, a novel reversible photo-thermomechanical liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) nanocomposite is developed that can be directly driven by natural sunlight and possesses strong actuation capability. Using the LCE nanocomposite actuators, the artificial heliotropic devices show full-range heliotropism in both laboratory and in-field tests. As a result, significant increase in the photocurrent output from the solar cells in the artificial heliotropic devices is observed.

引用

页码：5166 / 5174

页数：9

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