Fully spray-coated organic solar cells on woven polyester cotton fabric for wearable energy harvesting applications

This paper presents the novel use of spray coating to fabricate organic solar cells on fabrics for wearable energy harvesting applications. The surface roughness of standard woven 65/35 polyester cotton fabric used in this work is of the order of 150 µm and this is reduced to few microns by a screen printed interface layer. This pre-treated fabric substrate with reduced surface roughness was used as the target substrate for the spray coated fabric organic solar cells that contains multiple layers of electrodes and active materials. A fully spray coated photovoltaic (PV) devices fabricated on fabric substrates has been successfully demonstrated with comparable power conversion efficiency to the glass based counterparts. All PV devices are characterised under simulated AM 1.5 conditions. Device morphologies were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This approach is potentially suitable for the low cost integration of PV devices into clothing and other decorative textilesThis work was supported by Sensor Platform for HEalthcare in a Residential Environment (SPHERE) project (EP/K031910/1). Professor S. P. Beeby acknowledges EPSRC support through his Fellowship ‘Energy Harvesting Materials for Smart Fabrics and Interactive Textiles’ (EP/I005323/1). Professor P. J. Skabara thanks the Royal Society for a Wolfson Research Merit Award

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Fully spray-coated organic solar cells on woven polyester cotton fabrics for wearable energy harvesting applications

This paper presents the novel use of spray-coating to fabricate organic solar cells on fabrics for wearable energy harvesting applications. The surface roughness of a standard woven 65/35 polyester cotton fabric used in this work is of the order of 150 μm and this is reduced to a few microns by a screen printed interface layer. This pre-treated fabric substrate with reduced surface roughness was used as the target substrate for the spray-coated fabric organic solar cells that contain multiple layers of electrodes and active materials. Fully spray-coated photovoltaic (PV) devices fabricated on fabric substrates have been successfully demonstrated with power conversion efficiency comparable to that of their glass based counterparts. All PV devices are characterised under simulated AM 1.5 conditions. Device morphologies were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This approach is potentially suitable for the low cost integration of PV devices into clothing and other decorative textiles

Fully spray-coated organic solar cells on woven polyester cotton fabrics for wearable energy harvesting applications

This paper presents the novel use of spray-coating to fabricate organic solar cells on fabrics for wearable energy harvesting applications. The surface roughness of a standard woven 65/35 polyester cotton fabric used in this work is of the order of 150 μm and this is reduced to a few microns by a screen printed interface layer. This pre-treated fabric substrate with reduced surface roughness was used as the target substrate for the spray-coated fabric organic solar cells that contain multiple layers of electrodes and active materials. Fully spray-coated photovoltaic (PV) devices fabricated on fabric substrates have been successfully demonstrated with power conversion efficiency comparable to that of their glass based counterparts. All PV devices are characterised under simulated AM 1.5 conditions. Device morphologies were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This approach is potentially suitable for the low cost integration of PV devices into clothing and other decorative textiles