A hierarchically structured self-cleaning energy-free polymer film for daytime radiative cooling

[Display omitted] •A hierarchically structured superhydrophobic radiative cooling film was fabricated.•The film integrates solar reflectance, infrared emittance and superhydrophobicity.•The film exhibits an average sub-ambient temperature drop of 12.3 °C under sunlight.•The superhydrophobicity makes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2022-08, Vol.442, p.136239, Article 136239
Main Authors: Huang, Meng-Chen, Xue, Chao-Hua, Huang, Jianying, Liu, Bing-Ying, Guo, Xiao-Jing, Bai, Zhong-Xue, Wei, Ren-Xuan, Wang, Hui-Di, Du, Mi-Mi, Jia, Shun-Tian, Chen, Zhong, Lai, Yuekun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Energy-saving
Radiative cooling
Self-cleaning
Superhydrophobic
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Summary:[Display omitted] •A hierarchically structured superhydrophobic radiative cooling film was fabricated.•The film integrates solar reflectance, infrared emittance and superhydrophobicity.•The film exhibits an average sub-ambient temperature drop of 12.3 °C under sunlight.•The superhydrophobicity makes the film maintain long-lasting cooling performance.•The film is promising for energy-free cooling materials towards applications. Radiative cooling without using electricity represents an ideal green solution for air-conditioning. Despite exciting progress made so far, most of the radiative cooling materials are vulnerable to outdoor contamination, which leads to decreased performance. Herein, we fabricate a hierarchically structured PVDF/PDMS porous film which integrates strong sunlight reflectance (97%), high thermal-infrared emittance (96%) and robust superhydrophobicity (160.2°). The synergy of the effective solar reflection and thermal-infrared emission enables the film to yield a sub-ambient temperature drop of 12.3 °C under strong sunlight. More importantly, the superhydrophobicity keeps the film away from contamination by self-cleaning, maintaining well the radiative cooling performance for a long-term outdoor use. Additionally, the as-obtained film shows excellent chemical durability after exposure to different pH solutions and UV light irradiation. This work provides a new strategy to integrate self-cleaning with radiative cooling, showing great potential to advance energy-free cooling materials toward real-world applications.
ISSN:1385-8947
1873-3212
DOI:10.1016/j.cej.2022.136239