Organic photovoltaic mini-module providing more than 5000 V for energy autonomy of dielectric elastomer actuators

Abstract Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are widely used for soft robotics. The required voltages of over 1000 V are usually supplied by amplifiers with batteries or power grids which however have limited operation time or mobility. This problem also exists for other advanced mobile devices su...

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Main Authors: Ershuai Jiang, Armin Jamali, Mathias List, Dushyant Bhagwan Mishra, Seyed Alireza Sheikholeslami, Frank Goldschmidtboeing, Peter Woias, Clemens Baretzky, Oliver Fischer, Birger Zimmermann, Stefan W. Glunz, Uli Würfel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-02-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57226-6
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author Ershuai Jiang
Armin Jamali
Mathias List
Dushyant Bhagwan Mishra
Seyed Alireza Sheikholeslami
Frank Goldschmidtboeing
Peter Woias
Clemens Baretzky
Oliver Fischer
Birger Zimmermann
Stefan W. Glunz
Uli Würfel
author_facet Ershuai Jiang
Armin Jamali
Mathias List
Dushyant Bhagwan Mishra
Seyed Alireza Sheikholeslami
Frank Goldschmidtboeing
Peter Woias
Clemens Baretzky
Oliver Fischer
Birger Zimmermann
Stefan W. Glunz
Uli Würfel
author_sort Ershuai Jiang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are widely used for soft robotics. The required voltages of over 1000 V are usually supplied by amplifiers with batteries or power grids which however have limited operation time or mobility. This problem also exists for other advanced mobile devices such as electroaerodynamic thrusters. This work reports on the development of high-voltage organic photovoltaic mini-modules (HV-OPMs) comprising 5024 individual sub-cells on an area of 3.8 × 3.9 cm2. Under 100 klux white LED illumination, an open-circuit voltage (V OC) of 5534 V and an efficiency of 6.4% is achieved with the photoactive material PM6:GS-ISO whereas with PV-X plus a V OC of 3970 V and an efficiency of 19.0% is obtained. Furthermore, a soft suction cup based on DEA was built and could successfully be powered with one of these modules. These results show that HV-OPMs are very promising to realize energy autonomy of low-power high-voltage devices.
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issn 2041-1723
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record_format Article
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spelling doaj-art-e8de457fc59745bb8e9dc5edbd5dd0932025-08-20T02:01:33ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-02-0116111210.1038/s41467-025-57226-6Organic photovoltaic mini-module providing more than 5000 V for energy autonomy of dielectric elastomer actuatorsErshuai Jiang0Armin Jamali1Mathias List2Dushyant Bhagwan Mishra3Seyed Alireza Sheikholeslami4Frank Goldschmidtboeing5Peter Woias6Clemens Baretzky7Oliver Fischer8Birger Zimmermann9Stefan W. Glunz10Uli Würfel11Cluster of Excellence livMatS, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105Cluster of Excellence livMatS, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Heidenhofstr. 2Cluster of Excellence livMatS, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105Cluster of Excellence livMatS, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105Cluster of Excellence livMatS, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105Cluster of Excellence livMatS, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Heidenhofstr. 2Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Heidenhofstr. 2Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Heidenhofstr. 2Cluster of Excellence livMatS, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105Cluster of Excellence livMatS, University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105Abstract Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are widely used for soft robotics. The required voltages of over 1000 V are usually supplied by amplifiers with batteries or power grids which however have limited operation time or mobility. This problem also exists for other advanced mobile devices such as electroaerodynamic thrusters. This work reports on the development of high-voltage organic photovoltaic mini-modules (HV-OPMs) comprising 5024 individual sub-cells on an area of 3.8 × 3.9 cm2. Under 100 klux white LED illumination, an open-circuit voltage (V OC) of 5534 V and an efficiency of 6.4% is achieved with the photoactive material PM6:GS-ISO whereas with PV-X plus a V OC of 3970 V and an efficiency of 19.0% is obtained. Furthermore, a soft suction cup based on DEA was built and could successfully be powered with one of these modules. These results show that HV-OPMs are very promising to realize energy autonomy of low-power high-voltage devices.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57226-6
spellingShingle Ershuai Jiang
Armin Jamali
Mathias List
Dushyant Bhagwan Mishra
Seyed Alireza Sheikholeslami
Frank Goldschmidtboeing
Peter Woias
Clemens Baretzky
Oliver Fischer
Birger Zimmermann
Stefan W. Glunz
Uli Würfel
Organic photovoltaic mini-module providing more than 5000 V for energy autonomy of dielectric elastomer actuators
Nature Communications
title Organic photovoltaic mini-module providing more than 5000 V for energy autonomy of dielectric elastomer actuators
title_full Organic photovoltaic mini-module providing more than 5000 V for energy autonomy of dielectric elastomer actuators
title_fullStr Organic photovoltaic mini-module providing more than 5000 V for energy autonomy of dielectric elastomer actuators
title_full_unstemmed Organic photovoltaic mini-module providing more than 5000 V for energy autonomy of dielectric elastomer actuators
title_short Organic photovoltaic mini-module providing more than 5000 V for energy autonomy of dielectric elastomer actuators
title_sort organic photovoltaic mini module providing more than 5000 v for energy autonomy of dielectric elastomer actuators
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57226-6
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