Synergistic Atomic-Scale Design Realizes Enhanced Optical and Infrared Radiative Properties in ZrO2/SBA-15 Porous Composites

The development of materials with both high solar reflectance and strong mid-infrared emissivity remains a major challenge. In this work, we report a ZrO 2 /SBA-15 hierarchical porous composite synthesized through a one-pot copolymerization strategy. By introducing Zr atoms into the SBA-15 framework and validating the mechanism using first-principles calculations, we achieve synergistic optimization of optical and structural properties. The incorporation of Zr suppresses defect states near the Fermi level, leading to a widened bandgap and enhanced reflectance in the UV–Vis region. The optimized 1.0ZrO 2 /SBA-15 composite exhibits an average solar reflectance of 96.8% across the 0.3–2.5 μm wavelength range and an emissivity of 0.986 in the 8–13 μm range. This study demonstrates an atomic-scale structural design strategy that combines experimental synthesis with electronic structure calculations, offering new insights into the rational development of inorganic porous composites with enhanced optical performance.