Janus film for passive radiative cooling and solar heating for year-round thermal regulation

Janus film for passive radiative cooling and solar heating for year-round thermal regulation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Janus film for passive radiative cooling and solar heating for year-round thermal regulation Bingyao Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4078938/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The energy demand for heating and cooling buildings constitutes approximately 30% of the global energy consumption, underscoring the imperative for sustainable temperature regulation solutions. This research introduces an approach for building thermal management, employing a Janus film that integrates advanced photonic metamaterials with spectrally selective solar absorber and radiative cooler. This configuration enables a dynamic adjustment of solar absorption properties, crucial for adapting to seasonal and climatic variations. During winter, the aluminum nanoparticles embedded within polyethylene film show high solar absorptance and low thermal emittance that facilitates solar heating during the daytime while preserving heat during the nighttime. Concurrently, in the summer scenario, the PDMS thin film atop of aluminum thin layer demonstrates high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance, activating the radiative cooling capability and dissipating heat through the atmospheric transparent window. Simulation results confirm the film’s efficacy, indicating a potential for a 8.2°C reduction in ambient temperature during peak summer conditions and maintaining a near-ambient temperature during winter daylight hours which is 7.2°C above the regular black absorber. Energy-saving simulation shows that is projected to decrease energy saving 57 GJ per year for San Francisco. This dual-functional technology heralds a significant advancement in passive thermal regulation, offering a versatile and energy-efficient solution for buildings, vehicles, and agricultural greenhouses across diverse geographical locations. Physical sciences/Engineering/Mechanical engineering Physical sciences/Energy science and technology/Renewable energy/Solar energy Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SI.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4078938","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":282388291,"identity":"d54abfc4-88eb-4449-a09b-7d094683adae","order_by":0,"name":"Bingyao Li","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA/ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwbmxgcJFWw8jM2MjQ+AAjx8hLUwNht8OMMnx9ze3GwA0sJGhJY2yZltcsbsPcfbJEAiBLWYSyQ2SPOwmSX2zkhsq/yaYyfDxsD88NENPFosZyQ2GPPwpCXOBGq5LbstGegwNmPjHHwOu5HYkMwjcSxxI0iL5DZmoBYeNmlCWg7zGPxP3H8jsa1Ycls9UVoaG2cksBkz9hxsY/y47TBhLZY9D5sZPhxgk2Nsb2yWZtx2nIeNmYBfzNmTj/9I/AeKSvaHH39uq7bnZ29++BifFgaBBASbmQdM4lMOAvwHEGzGH4RUj4JRMApGwYgEADxYTZrK3Ym4AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Shanghai University of Finance and Economics","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bingyao","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-03-12 01:25:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4078938/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4078938/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":55264140,"identity":"3836b96f-7654-415e-aef9-608c3e61233d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-25 01:38:16","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":814213,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SRdoublesideNPs.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4078938/v1_covered_9725720a-1180-4921-916f-b7d9d784d547.pdf"},{"id":53215810,"identity":"3c9b16cb-dca1-4d9d-9039-0af67c453dcd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-03-22 03:13:59","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":140960,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SI.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4078938/v1/b99dac5488b8ff727e512972.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Janus film for passive radiative cooling and solar heating for year-round thermal regulation","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4078938/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4078938/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe energy demand for heating and cooling buildings constitutes approximately 30% of the global energy consumption, underscoring the imperative for sustainable temperature regulation solutions. This research introduces an approach for building thermal management, employing a Janus film that integrates advanced photonic metamaterials with spectrally selective solar absorber and radiative cooler. This configuration enables a dynamic adjustment of solar absorption properties, crucial for adapting to seasonal and climatic variations. During winter, the aluminum nanoparticles embedded within polyethylene film show high solar absorptance and low thermal emittance that facilitates solar heating during the daytime while preserving heat during the nighttime. Concurrently, in the summer scenario, the PDMS thin film atop of aluminum thin layer demonstrates high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance, activating the radiative cooling capability and dissipating heat through the atmospheric transparent window. 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