posted on 2023-12-19, 11:03authored byBo Xiang, Peng Xu, Renzhi Li, Rong Zhang
Daytime radiative cooling has generated an escalating
level of
interest as it offers zero-energy cooling even under strong solar
illumination. However, two issues remain unresolved regarding the
daytime radiative cooling. One is to further improve the cooling effect
at high temperatures and the other is to suppress overcooling at low
temperatures. Herein, we approached an effective design of a radiative
cooling composite enhanced by a phase change material (PCM). The incorporation
of the PCM increases the subambient cooling temperature of the composite
by 2 °C under a solar intensity of ∼850 W m–2, resulting in a final cooling effect of 6.8 °C, which demonstrates
the synergistic enhancement of the radiative cooling in hot conditions.
Furthermore, the incorporation of the PCM slows down the cooling rate
of the composite when the temperature drops below the crystallization
point, indicating a great potential to mitigate overcooling in cold
environments. Additionally, the resulting composite exhibits excellent
thermal and shape stabilities. Overall, the proposed PCM-enhanced
radiative cooling composite demonstrates a significant advance toward
the radiative cooling regulation, which holds promise for broadening
its application in various practical environments.