Mie-scattering modulation of porous radiative cooling materials for switchable radiative thermal regulation

Currently, stable thermal management significantly relies on the use of adaptive phase-change materials, while the photothermal regulation caused by surface structures is severely undervalued. As a result, the operating temperature window of self-adaptive material is limited by the phase-change temperature of the material, making it difficult to achieve large-scale applications. Inspired by the structure of butterfly wings, this study designs a silica-based inverse-opal structure to achieve stable thermal management. Results show porous films achieve a max. cooling of 7.3 °C vs. glass, with a 4.3 °C difference between pore sizes. Altering pore size regulates Mie scattering of light, enabling switchable temperature control (51.5–53.5 °C on sample vs. 49∼56.7 °C on glass). This provides a guideline for fabricating self-adaptive surfaces, with significant potential in bionic skin, building energy efficiency, and thermal management of electronics. Download: Download high-res image (452KB) Download: Download full-size image