Continuously variable emission for mechanical deformation induced radiative cooling

Xiaojie Liu (1) , Yanpei Tian (1) , Fangqi Chen (1) , Alok Ghanekar (2) , Mauro Antezza (3, 4) , Yi Zheng (1)

1 Northeastern University [Boston]
2 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
3 L2C - Laboratoire Charles Coulomb
4 Théorie du rayonnement matière et phénomènes quantiques

Passive radiative cooling, drawing heat energy of objects to the cold outer space through the atmospheric transparent window, is significant for reducing the energy consumption of buildings. Daytime and nighttime radiative cooling have been extensively investigated in the past. However, radiative cooling which can continuously regulate its cooling temperature, like a valve, according to human need is rarely reported. In this study, we propose a reconfigurable photonic structure, based on the effective medium theory and semi-analytical calculations, for the adaptive radiative cooling by continuous variation of the emission spectra in the atmospheric window. This is realized by the deformation of a one-dimensional polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) grating and nanoparticle-embedded PDMS thin film when subjected to mechanical stress/strain. The proposed structure reaches different stagnation temperatures under certain strains. A dynamic tuning in emissivity under different strains results in a continuously variable “ON”/“OFF” mode in a particular atmospheric window that corresponds to the deformation-induced fluctuation of the operating temperatures of thereconfigurable nanophotonic structure.

Domaines: Physique Générale [physics.gen-ph]; Physique [physics]

Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, Fangqi Chen, Alok Ghanekar, Mauro Antezza, et al.. Continuously variable emission for mechanical deformation induced radiative cooling. Communications Materials, 2020, 1 (1), pp.95. ⟨10.1038/s43246-020-00098-8⟩. ⟨hal-03044075⟩