Abstract
A spring-like Ti@TiO2 nanowire array wire has been introduced into a stretchable fiber-shaped dye-sensitized solar cell (FDSSC) as a photoanode to achieve high flexibility and elasticity in this paper. Given the TiO2 layer, which was prepared by a hydrothermal reaction in the optimized NaOH concentration of 2.5 mol L−1, with a 1D structure and high adhesion between the TiO2 nanowire array and the Ti wire substrate, the novel FDSSC still possesses photoelectric conversion efficiency retention rates of approximately 97.00% and 95.95% after bending to a radius of 1.0 cm and stretching to 100% strain, respectively. EIS result shows the degradation mechanism of the FDSSC photoelectric performance: the bending test leads to more terrible electron combination; the stretching operation increases the internal resistance and charge-transfer resistance at the counter electrode. Moreover, it's worth noting that, this is the first time to show a 100%-stretching degree in the FDSSC research field so far.
•A fiber-shaped, stretchable, TiO2 nanowire array-based DSSC was reported firstly.•Using EIS analysis method to analyse effect of bending and stretching on FDSSC performance.•Photoelectric conversion efficiency retention rate of 95.95% after stretching to 100% strain.•High flexibility with 97.00% performance retention rate at bending radius of 1 cm.