Radiative cooling for passive thermal management towards sustainable carbon neutrality

Abstract

Photonic structures at the wavelength scale offer innovative energy solutions for a wide range of applications, from high-efficiency photovoltaics to passive cooling, thus reshaping the global energy landscape. Radiative cooling based on structural and material design presents new opportunities for sustainable carbon neutrality as a zero-energy, ecologically friendly cooling strategy. In this review, in addition to introducing the fundamentals of the basic theory of radiative cooling technology, typical radiative cooling materials alongside their cooling effects over recent years are summarized, and the current research status of radiative cooling materials is outlined and discussed. Furthermore, technical challenges and potential advancements for radiative cooling are forecast with an outline of future application scenarios and development trends. In the future, radiative cooling is expected to make a significant contribution to global energy saving and emission reduction.

Ultrafast Switchable Passive Radiative Cooling Smart Windows with Synergistic Optical Modulation

“…Due to the abundance of CH, CO, and CF bonds in these compounds, the prepared polymer network can achieve heat radiation ability inside the atmospheric transparency window because of the chemical bonding vibrations (Figure 1b). [ 3 ] By UV irradiation, reactive monomers are polymerized, causing the phase separation between liquid crystals and polymer matrix. As a result, liquid crystal microdroplets form and are uniformly dispersed in the continuous phase of the polymer matrix.…”

“…Passive radiative cooling (PRC) has been considered as an emerging and promising technique to reduce global energy DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202301319 consumption. [1][2][3][4][5][6] By regulating the emission within atmospheric transparent window (8-13 μm), materials with PRC ability can continuously dissipate heat to cold outer space without any other aid of equipment or energy input, elucidating great potentials in multiple application prospects from body temperature regulating to cooling of electronic devices and buildings. [7][8][9][10][11] Up to date, several effective measures have been used to construct passive radiative coolers including metamaterials, [12,13] inorganic multilayer films, [14][15][16][17][18] nanoparticle-embedded structures, [19][20][21] and other functional materials or structures.…”

Nanotechnology for High‐Performance Textiles: A Promising Frontier for Innovation

“…Reproduced from ref. [222] as distributed under Creative Commons CC BY license, published by Oxford University Press.…”

Thin Nacreous Films with Enhanced Mechanical Properties for Highly Efficient Durable Radiative Cooling

“…While working to limit global warming to 1.5 ℃ proposed in the Paris Agreement 1 , it is undeniable that climate extremes around the world have been detected frequently, especially in hot summers, which has raised a series of energy, environment and security issues, including electricity consumption (e.g., air conditioners), carbon emissions and self-ignition (e.g., vehicles and cables) 2,3 . Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) as an energy-e cient and eco-friendly cooling technology, with fundamental principles of re ecting most sunlight (0.3-2.5 µm) and emitting long-wave infrared (LWIR) radiation through atmospheric window (8-13 µm), has been highly regarded in recent years [4][5][6][7] . Ideally, subambient temperature drop of objects can be passively reached with zero energy input and zero pollution output since there is a sustained cold universe (~ 2.7 K) as power source for PDRC 4,8,9 .…”