Scalable Bio-Skin-Inspired Radiative Cooling Metafabric for Breaking Trade-Off between Optical Properties and Application Requirements

Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) provides a zero-energy cooling technology to reduce the global fossil energy consumption and has already attracted tremendous interest. However, breaking the trade-off between the pursuit of ultrahigh dual-band (solar and atmospheric window) optical properties and the compatibility of multiple functional requirements by application is still a big challenge for PDRC. By introducing the photon slab-porous effect with strong sunlight backward scattering and inspired by human skin (epidermis and dermis) with recorded medical infrared emittance and multi-functions, we proposed an efficient dual-band optical property design strategy for PDRC. Through a simple and scalable dip dyeing process, the fabricated bioskin-inspired PDRC metafabric exhibited superior dual-band optical properties, while both the solar reflectance and atmospheric window emittance can reach 97%. Outdoor tests demonstrated that the bio-PDRC metafabric achieved a maximum sub-ambient temperature drop of 12.6 degrees C in daytime. A human wearing a hat made of bio-PDRC metafabric can be 16.6 degrees C cooler than the one wearing a common hat. The bio-PDRC metafabric also exhibited superior performance of breathability, waterproofness, flexibility, strength, and durability to fulfill the multiple demands of personal thermal management, vents, and car covers.

Automated summary

Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) is a zero-energy cooling technology that aims to reduce global fossil energy consumption and has gained significant interest. However, balancing the pursuit of ultrahigh dual-band optical properties and compatibility with multiple functional requirements remains a major challenge for PDRC.