Passive radiative cooling functions by reflecting the solar spectrum and emitting infrared waves in broadband or selectively. However, cooling enclosed spaces that trap heat by greenhouse effect remains a challenge. We present a Janus emitter (JET) consisting of an Ag–polydimethylsiloxane layer on micropatterned quartz substrate. The induced spoof surface plasmon polariton helps overcome inherent emissivity loss of the polymer and creates near-ideal selective and broadband emission on the separate sides. This design results in not only remarkable surface cooling when the JET is attached with either side facing outwards but also space cooling when used as an enclosure wall. Thus, the JET can passively mitigate the greenhouse effect in enclosures while offering surface cooling performance comparable to conventional radiative coolers.
7 August 2018 in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
A huge concern on global climate/energy crises has triggered intense development of radiative coolers (RCs), which are promising green‐cooling technologies. The continuous efforts on RCs have fast‐tracked notable energy‐savings by minimizing solar absorption and maximizing thermal emission. Recently, in addition to spectral optimization, ceramic‐based thermally insulative RCs are reported to improve thermoregulation by suppressing heat gain from the surroundings. However, a high temperature co‐firing process of ceramic‐based thick film inevitably results in a large mismatch of structural parameters between designed and fabricated components, thereby breaking spectral optimization. Here, this article proposes a scalable, non‐shrinkable, patternable, and thermally insulative ceramic RC (SNPT‐RC) using a roll‐to‐roll process, which can fill a vital niche in the field of radiative cooling. A stand‐alone SNPT‐RC exhibits excellent thermal insulation (≈0.251 W m−1 K−1) with flame‐resistivity and high solar reflectance/long‐wave emissivity (≈96% and 92%, respectively). Alternate stacks of intermediate porous alumina/borosilicate (Al2O3‐BS) layers not only result in outstanding thermal and spectral characteristics, causing excellent sub‐ambient cooling (i.e., 7.05 °C cooling), but also non‐shrinkable feature. Moreover, a perforated SNPT‐RC demonstrates its versatility as a breathable radiative cooling shade and as a semi‐transparent window, making it a highly promising technology for practical deployment in energy‐saving architecture.
11 March 2018 in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
As a renewable and sustainable energy source and an alternative to fossil fuels, solar-driven water splitting with photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell is a promising approach to obtain hydrogen fuel with its near-zero carbon emission pathway by transforming incident sunlight, the most abundant energy source. Because of its importance and future prospects, a number of architectures with their own features have been formed by various synthesis and growth methods. Because the materials themselves are one of the most dominant components, they determine the solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of the PEC cells. Thus, several representative PEC cells were reviewed by categorizing them as per synthesis and/or growth methods such as physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, electrochemical deposition, etc. This review provides researchers with an overview and acts as a guide for research on solar-driven water splitting PEC cells.