School of Physics and Technology,Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology,Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-Structures of Ministry of Education,Wuhan University,Wuhan 430072,Hubei,China
A daytime radiative cooling device with a refractive index gradient structure was designed to overcome the limitations of thickness, fabrication complexity, and environmental sensitivity in existing devices. The structure combines a silver substrate and a silica refractive index gradient layer. The performance is optimized by modulating parameters such as refractive index gradient distribution, structure thickness, and substrate material. Simulation analysis was carried out using FDTD; the simulation and theoretical analysis showed that with a non-radiative heat absorption coefficient q of 2 W·m-2·°C-1, and a refractive index variation exponent κ of 1.5, the device achieved a daytime radiative cooling temperature of 18.3 °C and a cooling power of 110.9 W·m-2. When the incident light angle is within the range of 0° to 60°, the device exhibits stable cooling temperature and cooling power performance. Further research found that when κ increased from 0 to 1.5, the cooling temperature of the device increased by 2.5 °C. Moreover, the radiative-cooling performance of the device has good robustness to changes in structural size and morphology. Based on this, silver, as used in the experiment, emerges as an ideal substrate material that balances performance and cost due to its high reflectivity and low solar energy absorption rate.
CHENGZ M, WANGF Q, GONGD Y, et al. Low-cost radiative cooling blade coating with ultrahigh visible light transmittance and emission within an “atmospheric window”[J]. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2020, 213: 110563. DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110563 .
[2]
LIOUK N. An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation[M]. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Academic Press, 2002: 1-583. DOI: 10.1016/s0074-6142(02)80015-8 .
[3]
PIERREHUMBERTR T. Infrared radiation and planetary temperature[J]. Physics Today, 2011, 64(1): 33-38. DOI: 10.1063/1.3541943 .
LIY F, LIUC L, MENGX L, et al. Background radiation compensation calibration method for film cooling infrared temperature measurement based on BP neural network[J]. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 2024, 159: 107998. DOI: 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2024.107998 .
[6]
BAE M, KIMD H, KIMS K, et al. Transparent energy-saving windows based on broadband directional thermal emission[J]. Nanophotonics, 2024, 13(5): 749-761. DOI: 10.1515/nanoph-2023-0580 .
[7]
LIY M, ANGL K, XIAOB, et al. Review of electron emission and electrical breakdown in nanogaps[J]. Physics of Plasmas, 2024, 31(4): 040502. DOI: 10.1063/5.0202607 .
[8]
GAOS. Energy partitioning in global marine sedimentation: Tidal, geothermal, and solar radiation contributions[J]. Geo-Marine Letters, 2024, 44(2): 7. DOI: 10.1007/s00367-024-00769-2 .
[9]
ACARU, KASKAO. Performance assessments of ground source heat pump assisted by various solar panels to achieve zero energy buildings in cold climate conditions[J]. Journal of Building Engineering, 2024, 96: 110611. DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2024.110611 .
[10]
LAND, HUY, WANGM, et al. Perspective of electromagnetic wave absorbing materials with continuously tunable effective absorption frequency bands[J]. Composites Communications, 2024, 50: 101993. DOI: 10.1016/j.coco.2024.101993 .
[11]
HUGUENINR L, JONESJ L. Intelligent information extraction from reflectance spectra: Absorption band positions[J]. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 1986, 91(B9): 9585-9598. DOI: 10.1029/JB091iB09p09585 .
[12]
LIZ T, ZHANGJ H, LIJ Y, et al. Dynamical Janus-like behavior excited by passive cold-heat modulation in the earth-sun/universe system: Opportunities and challenges[J]. Small, 2024, 20(32): 2309397. DOI: 10.1002/smll.202309397 .
[13]
FENGX D, ZHANGT Q, LIUX J, et al. Single-layer, cascaded and broadband-heat-dissipation metasurface for multi-wavelength lasers and infrared camouflage[J]. Opto-Electronic Advances, 2025, 8(6): 240280. DOI: 10.29026/oea.2025.240280 .
[14]
RAMANA P, ABOU ANOMAM, ZHUL X, et al. Passive radiative cooling below ambient air temperature under direct sunlight[J]. Nature, 2014, 515(7528): 540-544. DOI: 10.1038/nature13883 .
MEIX, WANGT, ZHANGY, et al. Scalable bilayer thin coatings with enhanced thermal dissipation for passive daytime radiative cooling[J]. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2024, 495: 153182. DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2024.153182 .
[17]
SHIX J, LIUC H, LINB, et al. 3D printed cellulose nanofiber/silica nanoparticle scaffolds for daytime radiative cooling[J]. Additive Manufacturing, 2024, 92: 104392. DOI: 10.1016/j.addma.2024.104392 .
[18]
YANGZ, YANGZ R, ZHANGZ H, et al. Daytime radiative cooling coating for cooling energy efficiency of conventional air conditioners[J]. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2025, 261: 125060. DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.125060 .
[19]
CHENZ, ZHUL X, RAMANA, et al. Radiative cooling to deep sub-freezing temperatures through a 24-h day-night cycle[J]. Nature Communications, 2016, 7: 13729. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13729 .
[20]
CAIC Y, WUX D, CHENGF L, et al. Cellulose metamaterials with hetero-profiled topology via structure rearrangement during ball milling for daytime radiative cooling[J]. Advanced Functional Materials, 2024, 34(40): 2405903. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202405903 .
[21]
SUNK, RIEDELC A, WANGY D, et al. Metasurface optical solar reflectors using AZO transparent conducting oxides for radiative cooling of spacecraft[J]. ACS Photonics, 2018, 5(2): 495-501. DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.7b00991 .
[22]
LIM, ZHANGM P, MAHARF K, et al. Fabrication of fibrous nanofiber membranes for passive radiation cooling[J]. Journal of Materials Science, 2022, 57(33): 16080-16090. DOI: 10.1007/s10853-022-07652-4 .
[23]
SUW G, CAIP, DARKWAJ, et al. Review of daytime radiative cooling technologies and control methods[J]. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2023, 235: 121305. DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2023.121305 .
[24]
FENGJ, GAOK, SANTAMOURISM, et al. Dynamic impact of climate on the performance of daytime radiative cooling materials[J]. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2020, 208: 110426. DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110426 .