Effective daytime radiative cooling
materials with high solar reflectance
and strong infrared emittance can greatly reduce the cooling demand
of buildings without any energy consumption, which is a great application
potential in the field of energy. Nanoparticle-based radiator is a
simple and inexpensive solution for daytime radiative cooling. However,
it is difficult for traditional oxide pigment nanoparticles to realize
daytime radiative cooling under strong sunlight because of their low
reflectance. Here, we report an inexpensive ZnO@ZIF-8 nanoparticle-based
radiative cooling coating, which simultaneously achieves sunlight
reflection and thermal radiation. ZnO@ZIF-8 polymer coatings can exhibit
both high solar reflectance (0.90 ± 0.01) and infrared emittance
(0.95 ± 0.01, 8–13 μm). The polyhedral morphology
and the unoriented pores of the ZnO@ZIF-8 polymer coating significantly
enhance the scattering of sunlight. Even under a nonradiative heat
exchange condition, the temperature on the coating surface could be
decreased by 7.6 °C when compared with that of the substrate
under a solar intensity of 1000 W m–2. Owing to
their superior optical capability and simple methods, ZnO@ZIF-8 polymer
coatings are promising to be widely utilized and produced. This work
is of great significance for designing advanced novel ZnO nanoparticle-based
radiators, which provide daytime radiative cooling.