Thin lamellar films with enhanced mechanical properties for durable radiative cooling

Abstract

Passive daytime radiative cooling is a promising path to tackle energy, environment and security issues originated from global warming. However, the contradiction between desired high solar reflectivity and necessary applicable performance is a major limitation at this stage. Herein, we demonstrate a “Solvent exchange-Reprotonation” processing strategy to fabricate a lamellar structure integrating aramid nanofibers with core-shell TiO2-coated Mica microplatelets for enhanced strength and durability without compromising optical performance. Such approach enables a slow but complete two-step protonation transition and the formation of three-dimensional dendritic networks with strong fibrillar joints, where overloaded scatterers are stably grasped and anchored in alignment, thereby resulting in a high strength of ~112 MPa as well as excellent environmental durability including ultraviolet aging, high temperature, scratches, etc. Notably, the strong backward scattering excited by multiple core-shell and shell-air interfaces guarantees a balanced reflectivity (~92%) and thickness (~25 μm), which is further revealed by outdoor tests where attainable subambient temperature drops are ~3.35 °C for daytime and ~6.11 °C for nighttime. Consequently, both the cooling capacity and comprehensive outdoor-services performance, greatly push radiative cooling towards real-world applications.