Clothes into solar cells

GS Research Team. Yi Cui, of Stanford University, has successfully put carbon nanotubes (one billionths of a meter) into a dye.

Tensile test of dyed fabric "ink" made from carbon nanotube. Photo: BBC

When dipping the fabric into this dye, the scientists hope to be able to make clothes that are electrically charged, which function as portable solar panels.

Thus, users will no longer worry about finding the power to charge the phone, music player, laptop ... in each trip.

However, Yi Cui is tackling the problem of how to put the dye on the fabric like conventional dyes in all circumstances, even when stretched or folded.