Faculty of Symbiotic Systems Sciences, Fukushima University, 1 Kanayagawa, Fukushima 960-1296, Japan.
Sensors (Basel). 2018 Jun 5;18(6):1841. doi: 10.3390/s18061841.
Ordinary solar cells are very difficult to bend, squash by compression, or extend by tensile strength. However, if they were to possess elastic, flexible, and extensible properties, in addition to piezo-electricity and resistivity, they could be put to effective use as artificial skin installed over human-like robots or humanoids. Further, it could serve as a husk that generates electric power from solar energy and perceives any force or temperature changes. Therefore, we propose a new type of artificial skin, called hybrid skin (H-Skin), for a humanoid robot having hybrid functions. In this study, a novel elastic solar cell is developed from natural rubber that is electrolytically polymerized with a configuration of magnetic clusters of metal particles incorporated into the rubber, by applying a magnetic field. The material thus produced is named magnetic compound fluid rubber (MCF rubber) that is elastic, flexible, and extensible. The present report deals with a dry-type MCF rubber solar cell that uses photosensitized dye molecules. First, the photovoltaic mechanism in the material is investigated. Next, the changes in the photovoltaic properties of its molecules due to irradiation by visible light are measured under compression. The effect of the compression on its piezoelectric properties is investigated.
普通的太阳能电池很难弯曲、压缩或拉伸。然而，如果它们具有弹性、柔韧性和可扩展性，以及压电性和电阻率，它们就可以有效地用作安装在类人机器人或人形机器人上的人造皮肤。此外，它可以作为一种外壳，利用太阳能发电，并感知任何力或温度的变化。因此，我们为具有混合功能的人形机器人提出了一种新型的人造皮肤，称为混合皮肤（H-Skin）。在这项研究中，通过在橡胶中加入金属粒子的磁性簇的配置，利用磁场，从天然橡胶中开发出一种新型的弹性太阳能电池，这种电池是通过电解聚合而成的。由此产生的材料称为磁性复合流体橡胶（MCF 橡胶），它具有弹性、柔韧性和可扩展性。本报告介绍了一种使用光敏染料分子的干式 MCF 橡胶太阳能电池。首先，研究了材料中的光电机制。接下来，在压缩下测量了可见光照射下其分子光电性能的变化。研究了压缩对其压电性能的影响。
