Nano-Micro Letters
·
2025
·Vol. 17
·期 1
·1-21
·
IF 36.3
Dong Xiuli,Chan Kit-Ying,Yin Xuemin,Zhang Yu,Zhao Xiaomeng,Yang Yunfei,Wang Zhenyu,Shen Xi
Hygroscopic hydrogel is a promising evaporative-cooling material for high-power passive daytime cooling with water self-regeneration. However, undesired solar and environmental heating makes it a challenge to maintain sub-ambient daytime cooling. While different strategies have been developed to mitigate heat gains, they inevitably sacrifice the evaporation and water regeneration due to highly coupled thermal and vapor transport. Here, an anisotropic synergistically performed insulation-radiation-evaporation (ASPIRE) cooler is developed by leveraging a dual-alignment structure both internal and external to the hydrogel for coordinated thermal and water transport. The ASPIRE cooler achieves an impressive average sub-ambient cooling temperature of ~ 8.2 °C and a remarkable peak cooling power of 311 W m −2 under direct sunlight. Further examining the cooling mechanism reveals that the ASPIRE cooler reduces the solar and environmental heat gains without comprising the evaporation. Moreover, self-sustained multi-day cooling is possible with water self-regeneration at night under both clear and cloudy days. The synergistic design provides new insights toward high-power, sustainable, and all-weather passive cooling applications.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
能源技术
·
环境科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Nano-Micro Letters
·
2025
·Vol. 17
·期 1
·1-14
·
IF 36.3
Yu Haijiao,Lu Jiqing,Yan Jie,Bai Tian,Niu Zhaoxuan,Ye Bin,Cheng Wanli,Wang Dong,Huan Siqi,Han Guangping
Radiative cooling fabric creates a thermally comfortable environment without energy input, providing a sustainable approach to personal thermal management. However, most currently reported fabrics mainly focus on outdoor cooling, ignoring to achieve simultaneous cooling both indoors and outdoors, thereby weakening the overall cooling performance. Herein, a full-scale structure fabric with selective emission properties is constructed for simultaneous indoor and outdoor cooling. The fabric achieves 94% reflectance performance in the sunlight band (0.3–2.5 µm) and 6% in the mid-infrared band (2.5–25 µm), effectively minimizing heat absorption and radiation release obstruction. It also demonstrates 81% radiative emission performance in the atmospheric window band (8–13 µm) and 25% radiative transmission performance in the mid-infrared band (2.5–25 μm), providing 60 and 26 W m −2 net cooling power outdoors and indoors. In practical applications, the fabric achieves excellent indoor and outdoor human cooling, with temperatures 1.4–5.5 °C lower than typical polydimethylsiloxane film. This work proposes a novel design for the advanced radiative cooling fabric, offering significant potential to realize sustainable personal thermal management.
研究领域:
材料科学
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能源与环境科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
ACS Applied Nano Materials
·
2023
·
IF 5.9
Xun Zhang,Tongcheng Zuo,Dan Yu,Wei Wang
Passive cooling has been considered an important technology for tackling climate change without any extra power by dispersing ambient heat directly into outer space instead of just transferring it across the surface. However, the current widely used related techniques are limited by the complexity of system design or low cooling power. Radiative cooling and evaporative cooling (EC) are two types of passive cooling methods that can lessen the reliance on active cooling. Herein, a hydrophilic and asymmetrical passive cooler of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) aerogels combined with boron nitride (BN) nanoparticles was prepared via a simple freeze-drying method with a dual-mode of radiative cooling and EC. The as-prepared BN/glutaraldehyde (GA)–PVA (BN/GP) with a high solar reflectivity (∼0.95) and high selective emissivity (∼0.95) can efficiently achieve subambient temperature. Besides, due to its good hydrophilicity, when absorbing water, it can achieve a passive cooling effect dominated by EC. Outdoor measurements showed average temperature drops (ΔT) of ∼3.6 and ∼11.3 °C were obtained for BN/GP and the swollen BN/GP, with net passive cooling powers of 69.8 and 169.5 W m–2 at an average irradiance of 1000 W m–2 of sunlight, respectively. Compared with the ambient temperature of ∼40.9 °C, the BN/GP aerogel enables a subambient temperature by radiative cooling; meanwhile, the swollen BN/GP possesses excellent EC effect. Moreover, BN/GP can switch between dual modes with water replenishment. The BN/GP passive cooler will offer a low-cost, energy-efficient, and scalable path for the development of dual-mode passive cooling.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
环境科学
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING
·
2024
·
IF 6.1
Qing-Kai Zhu,Hong-Bei He,Chao-Chen Cai,Ting-Ting Li,Ching-Wen Lou,Jia-Horng Lin,Hai-Tao Ren
Evaporative cooling and radiative cooling are considered to be energy-saving and environmentally friendly cooling technologies. However, the evaporative cooling system requires complex external water supply equipment, and the radiative cooling is susceptible to weather, which hinder the practical application. Herein, TiO 2 was used as the photo-initiator and spectral regulator, and a hydrogel integrating radiative cooling and evaporative cooling was prepared by combining photopolymerization with semi-acidification sol–gel transition method. The obtained hydrogel shows good mechanical strength (elongation at break > 600 %, and fracture stress > 200 kPa), high visible reflectance (>80.0 %) and emissivity in atmospheric window band (>90.0 %). At the same time, due to the introduction of hygroscopic agent CaCl 2 , it can replenish water itself at night. In outdoor experiment, the hydrogel showed a cooling effect of up to 12.5 °C, showing a significant potential for reducing energy consumption in cooling applications. In addition, the synthesis process of hydrogel is green, which aligns with environmental safety and sustainability goals. This study provides a new strategy for developing efficient, environmentally friendly, and low-cost passive coolers to reduce the global energy burden.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
环境科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
·
2025
·
IF 13.2
Xintao Xie,Yue Liu,Yipeng Zhang,Hongxiang Xie,Jianyong Ye,Hejun Li,Weifan Chen
Photovoltaic (PV) efficiency can be improved to some extent by using thermoelectric (TE) conversion cooling. However, PV performance has not reached its full potential due to excessive residual heat accumulation that is not dissipated in a timely manner during prolonged operation. In this work, we proposed a passive cooling system via a cooler with thermoelectric-driven convection and radiative cooling (CTCRC) attached to the PV backsheet, which efficiently and responsively harnessed thermoelectricity further to enhance PV efficiency. In this cooler, a radiative cooling (RC) film adhered to the thermoelectric generator was optimized to increase the TE voltage, thereby initiating thermoelectric-driven forced convection at a lower temperature threshold for the PV panel. At 1 kW m −2 solar irradiation, the TE/RC composite cooler achieves 331 W·m −2 cooling power under steady-state heat transfer conditions, reducing commercial PV panel temperature by 7.8 °C and improving PV efficiency by 11 %. Activating thermoelectric-driven forced convection further increases cooling power to 529 W·m −2 , lowering PV panel temperature by 11.3 °C and enhancing PV efficiency by 15.6 %. Simulations of temperature distribution confirm the energy transfer and conversion processes in the coolers. The CTCRC intensifies thermoelectricity with RC to facilitate responsive thermoelectric-driven forced convection at lower PV temperatures, offering a novel approach to improve PV efficiency further.
研究领域:
可再生能源
·
热电技术
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太阳能
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传热学
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材料科学
·
能量转换
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
·
2024
·
IF 13.3
Liang Xu,Da-Wen Sun,You Tian,Libin Sun,Zhiwei Zhu
The combination of daytime radiative and evaporative cooling has been considered a promising complementary technology for lessening greenhouse gas emissions and global energy consumption. However, this cooling strategy is impaired by environmental heat; its evaporative cooling capacity and cooling time are uncontrollable, and water consumption is significant. Inspired by the cactus’s ability to cope with arid and hot environments, the bilayer passive cooler (BPC) consisting of aerogel with particle coating and hydrogel with hygroscopic agent was developed to overcome these challenges. The aerogel with particle coating possessed high solar reflectance (∼0.95), strong infrared radiation (∼0.94), low thermal conductivity (∼42 mW m −1 K −1 ), and great hydrophobicity (CA = 138°) to perform daytime radiative cooling, thermal insulation, and self-cleaning function. The hydrogel with hygroscopic agent achieved the nighttime moisture capture. The evaporative cooling capacity and cooling time could be regulated by the aerogel and hydrogel thicknesses. The field test showed that the BPC achieved a temperature drop of ∼ 8℃ compared to the ambient temperature of ∼ 30℃ and a cooling power of ∼ 222 W m −2 under the sunlight. Thus, the present study should open a new daytime passive cooling technology pathway.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
能源技术
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环境科学
·
热力学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
·
2025
·
IF 10.9
Fei Wang,Zhiying Song,Yuzhe Zhang,Jie Ji
Hydrogel-based cooling for photovoltaic modules has emerged as a research hotspot in recent years. However, the intrinsically low thermal conductivity of hydrogels poses a negative effect on overall heat dissipation performance. This study proposes a strategy that replaces costly nanomaterial dopants in hydrogels with heat-dissipating fins. The gaps between the fins are partially filled with a thermoresponsive hydrogel, poly-N-isopropyl acrylamide, which has a Lower Critical Solution Temperature of 32.2 °C. This design both substantially increases the heat-exchange contact area between the photovoltaic and the hydrogel and, by coupling the fins’ convective heat transfer with the hydrogel’s phase-change evaporative cooling (latent heat of vaporization ≈ 2440 kJ·kg − 1), achieves a synergistic enhancement of convective and evaporative heat removal, thereby significantly improving overall heat-transfer efficiency. Comparative experiments show that, under low wind-speed conditions, the photovoltaic–fin–poly-N-isopropyl-acrylamide structure reduces the photovoltaic average temperature by 19.6 °C relative to the bare photovoltaic control and increases the absolute cell efficiency by 1.3 %. Outdoor experiments have demonstrated that the cooling duration of the proposed structure can reach up to 9 h, and the PNIPAM hydrogel exhibits excellent swelling performance, indicating its great potential for adsorption–evaporation applications in diurnal cycles, particularly under high nighttime humidity conditions. This finding has important implications for research on photovoltaic thermal management.
研究领域:
材料科学
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能源工程
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热力学
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可再生能源
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功能高分子材料
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光电子学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
SOLAR ENERGY
·
2024
·
IF 6
Qihao Dai,Xinyu Tan,Guiguang Qi,Xiongbo Yang,Bowhen Li,Zheng Guo,Junmei Zhang,Weiwei Hu,Songshan Li,Cadao Nguyen,Xiaobo Chen,Yequan Xiao,Peng Xiang
Passive daytime radiative cooling presents a promising avenue for revolutionizing cooling solutions by reflecting sunlight and radiative heat to outer space without consuming energy. Previous studies often focus on a single temperature scenario, neglecting the complexity of real-world applications in which the target object may have heat sources. Here, we have successfully prepared a Cooling Paint for Multi-Temperature Scenarios (CPMTS) by incorporating nanometer boron nitride into the photocured monomer Tricyclodecane Dimethanol Diacrylate (DCPDA). CPMTS exhibits excellent broadband thermal emittance (∼0.955), reflectance (∼0.778, from 300 nm to 2.5 μm), and thermal conductivity (∼0.51 W m −1 K −1 ). Notably, it achieves a maximum cooling of 20.1 °C and 8.8 °C under ∼790 W m −2 and ∼507 W m −2 of solar irradiation in the absence and presence of a 1 W heat source continuously heating, respectively. Continuous and significant radiative cooling performance has been observed on cloudy days or at night. CPMTS shows excellent radiative cooling performance in practical application scenarios. Excellent ageing resistance, adhesion, stability, and color matching ability make CPMTS expected large-scale application through spray or brush. This research provides a potential solution for cooling in real-world diverse temperature scenarios. The obtained radiative cooling coatings demonstrate scalability and durability in practical applications.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
能源技术
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
POLYMER
·
2025
·
IF 4.5
Xinlong Wang,Xinpeng Hu,Zhanjin Shi,Xianrong Huang,Xiang Lu,Jinping Qu
Heat waves, increasing in frequency, pose significant risks to human health and economic stability. Traditional personal cooling technologies, such as Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, are energy-intensive and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, necessitating the development of energy-efficient alternatives. Radiative cooling fabrics (RCFs) could be an ideal method for personal thermal management, while conventional petroleum-based fabrics exhibit low reflectivity and emissivity, limiting their cooling performance. This research introduces hybrid cooling films by incorporating phase change capsules (PCCs) into polypropylene (PP) films treated with a lysozyme-phytic acid coating to enhance hydrophilicity. The resulting RCFs demonstrated significantly improved reflectivity, emissivity and a high latent heat of 108.63 J/g, achieving a cooling performance of 4.62 °C. These findings highlight a scalable approach for manufacturing advanced textiles, contributing to more efficient thermal management strategies in response to rising global temperatures.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
生物医学工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Journal of Photonics for Energy
·
2023
·
IF 1.7
Bin Li,Boyu Cao,Ruichen Song,Yetao Zhong,Changhao Chen,Hengren Hu,Shigang Wu,Zhilin Xia
Passive radiative cooling is an environmentally friendly and energy-free cooling method, but the practical application of radiative cooling materials is still limited by high costs and cumbersome preparation processes. Here, low-cost and chemically stable polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) was selected as the raw material and porous P-PVDF films for daytime radiative cooling were prepared by a simple phase separation method. A solar reflectivity of 95.6% and an atmospheric window emissivity of 99.1% were obtained, resulting in high-performance radiative cooling without a metal reflective layer. A cooling power of 69.43 W · m − 2 was achieved in direct sunlight, achieving sub-ambient cooling of 4.2°C. This work provides a unique solution for radiative cooling materials, which is expected to be implemented in practical applications of passive radiative cooling.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
环境科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Small Science
·
2024
·Vol. 4
·期 3
·2300237
·
IF 11.1
Zuoxin Hu,Yu Qiu,Jicheng Zhou,Qing Li
Radiative cooling and evaporative cooling are sustainable cooling techniques without additional energy input. However, radiative cooling lacks dynamic cooling ability, while evaporative cooling demands external water replenishment, hindering their applications. Herein, a smart radiative/evaporative cooling bilayer combining a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) upper layer with a hydrogel lower layer is presented for efficient all-day dynamic passive cooling. The PDMS layer with high solar reflectivity (0.930) and emissivity (0.952) provides excellent all-day radiative cooling and protects the hydrogel from solar exposure, while the hydrogel layer demonstrates remarkable water evaporation and absorption, achieving dynamic evaporative cooling. Thus, the synergy of the two layers significantly enhances the overall cooling performance. Specifically, the bilayer can achieve the peak cooling power values of 424.4 and 650.6 W m −2 as well as the maximum subambient cooling temperatures of 10.4 and 3.7 °C during sunny and cloudy mid-days, respectively. Moreover, the bilayer obtains 3.2 °C warmer temperature compared with the PDMS alone during cold nighttime, while the two structures exhibit comparable cooling performance during hot nighttime, indicating the self-adaptive cooling property of the bilayer. In addition, the bilayer can achieve good cooling performance even under continuous cloudy days, offering a promising strategy for efficient all-day dynamic passive cooling.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
能源工程
·
环境科学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Additive Manufacturing
·
2024
·
IF 10.3
Xiaojie Shi,Chuhang Liu,Bo Lin,Guoqiang Zhou,Chaozheng Liu,Changtong Mei,Mei-Chun Li
The high degree of modularity and miniaturization of nanoelectronic devices results in a significant increase in heat flux per unit area of electronic components. This can cause a rise in temperature, especially when used outdoors under direct sunlight conditions, which can negatively impact their operational stability and service life. Traditional radiators have limited effectiveness in outdoor sunlight conditions. Additionally, conventional heat sinks are often too large and heavy for miniature electronic devices. Therefore, finding an effective solution to cool electronics under sunlight conditions remains a challenge. Herein, we present an innovative solution to fabricate 3D-printed coolers for electronic devices based on the methyltrimethoxysilane/silica/cellulose nanofibers (MSC) ink. 3D printing technology enables the fabrication of radiative coolers with complex structures and efficient cooling performance as needed. The combination of CNFs and SiO₂ nanoparticles, coupled with the porous nature of the structure, enables the 3D-printed MSC scaffold to exhibit excellent solar reflectance and high mid-infrared (MIR) emissivity, thereby facilitating superior radiative cooling capabilities. During the daytime, it can efficiently reduce the temperature of electronic devices by 6.16 °C, thereby improving their operational efficiency and service life. Furthermore, the 3D-printed MSC scaffold exhibits superior mechanical properties due to the robust 3D frame structure formed by the ink components, which provides stability for the electronic device during operation. This study presents an innovative approach to developing electronic device coolers with excellent cooling performance, which is significant in promoting the reliability and stability of electronic devices.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
纳米技术
·
电子工程
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）