Visible transparent MXene@AgNWs bionic infrared low emission film for infrared camouflage and personal thermal management

Visible light transparent and low infrared emission materials have great prospects in infrared camouflage, building energy efficiency, passive radiation heating and many other fields, yet their manufacture remains a formidable challenge. inspired by the overlap of branches and fallen leaves in winter, we applied bionic principles to build a conductive network combining AgNWs and MXene on a transparent PET substrate, and developed an optically transparent, infrared-low-emission flexible conductive film. The prepared MA 10/133 film has a visible light transmittance of not less than 71 %, a sheet resistance of 12.03Ω·sq −1 , and average emissivities of 0.37 and 0.18 in two infrared atmospheric windows of 3–5 μm and 8–14 μm, and demonstrates excellent visible transparency and infrared camouflage performance. In addition, in the field of personal thermal management, with superior passive radiant heating performance, MA 10/133 film covered simulated human skin is 4.5°C and 1.5°C higher than those covered by cotton and woolen fabrics. Stable and controllable Joule heating performance can be used as an effective complement to passive radiant heating performance, with a maximum saturation temperature of 74.7°C at a driving voltage of 5 V, which is sufficient to cope with colder outdoor environments. These properties make composite films promising candidates for military thermal camouflage, outdoor life jackets and smart, energy-efficient windows.