A Facile and Effective Design for Dynamic Thermal Management Based on Synchronous Solar and Thermal Radiation Regulation

Abstract

Passive solar heating and radiative cooling have attracted great interest in global energy consumption reduction due to their unique electricity-free advantage. However, static single radiation cooling or solar heating would lead to overcooling or overheating in cold and hot weather, respectively. To achieve a facile, effective approach for dynamic thermal management, a novel structured polyethylene (PE) film was engineered with a switchable cooling and heating mode obtained through a moisture transfer technique. The 100 μm PE film showed excellent solar modulation from 0.92 (dried state) to 0.32 (wetted state) and thermal modulation from 0.86 (dried state) to 0.05 (wetted state). Outdoor experiments demonstrated effective thermal regulation during both daytime and nighttime. Furthermore, our designed PE film can save 1.3− 41.0% of annual energy consumption across the whole country of China. This dual solar and thermal regulation mechanism is very promising for guiding scalable approaches to energy-saving temperature regulation.

Radiative cooling: structure design and application

“…For instance, the scattering efficiency of porous structures is depends on the refractive index contrast found across their pore boundaries. 59 As shown in Fig. 7a, the manipulation of spectral properties through modifications to the pore medium represents a viable method for controlled radiative cooling.…”

Thermochromic Janus Membranes with Dynamic Solar Modulation toward Sustainable and High-Efficiency Solar-to-Thermal Intelligent Management

“…Therefore, the development of new materials and technologies for smart temperature regulation that minimize energy consumption remains an urgent issue to address. Recently, passive radiation thermal regulation that can achieve thermal regulation without requiring excessive power input has become a promising approach. − It is crucial to dynamically regulate thermal radiation according to different situations in the external environment, which has potential applications in areas such as smart windows, etc. − …”

A mechanical–optical coupling design on solar and thermal radiation modulation for thermoregulation

“…To overcome this issue, dynamic thermal modulation approaches have been proposed to controllably adjust the optical spectra of the designed systems, achieving targeted cooling and heating purposes. This was achieved by various strategies from solar to thermal radiation, 35–37 which mainly included electrochromic devices, 38,39 electrically driven semiconductor dielectrics, 40,41 thermochromic dyes, 42,43 phase change components, 44 hypochromic polymer, 45,46 and so on. Despite these advances, dynamic thermal modulation management still faces significant limitations, such as complex fabrication processes, narrow regulation spectral range regulation, high operating temperatures, and long switching periods.…”