Traditional cooling and heating systems in residential buildings account for more than 15% of global electricity consumption and 10% of global emissions of greenhouse gases. Daytime radiative cooling (DRC) is an emerging passive cooling technology that has garnered significant interest in recent years due to its high cooling capability. It is expected to play a pivotal role in improving indoor and outdoor urban environments by mitigating surface and air temperatures while decreasing relevant energy demand. Yet, DRC is in its infancy, and thus several challenges need to be addressed to establish its efficient wide-scale application into the built environment. In this Perspective, we critically discuss the strategies and progress in materials development to achieve DRC and highlight the challenges and future paths to pave the way for real-life applications. Advances in nanofabrication in combination with the establishment of uniform experimental protocols, both in the laboratory/field and through simulations, are expected to drive economic increases in DRC.

We report a novel synthetic procedure for the high-yield synthesis of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with fcu topology with a UiO-66-like structure starting from a range of commercial Zr^IV precursors and various substituted dicarboxylic linkers. The syntheses are carried out by grinding in a ball mill the starting reagents, namely, Zr salts and the dicarboxylic linkers, in the presence of a small amount of acetic acid and water (1 mL total volume for 1 mmol of each reagent), followed by incubation at either room temperature or 120 °C. Such a simple “shake ‘n bake” procedure, inspired by the solid-state reaction of inorganic materials, such as oxides, avoids the use of large amounts of solvents generally used for the syntheses of Zr-MOF. Acidity of the linkers and the amount of water are found to be crucial factors in affording materials of quality comparable to that of products obtained under solvo- or hydrothermal conditions.

The present review aims to highlight the potential of an emerging 2D single element material: phosphorene. Attention is focused on the more recent studies on phosphorene, in terms of synthetic approaches, modification aimed at its stabilization, and potential applications in the biomedical field. Critical aspects for a practical use of phosphorene are discussed, in order to show a realistic scenario and challenges facing researchers.