Transparent radiative coolers: Material strategies, optical design, emerging applications and beyond

Transparent radiative cooler (TRC) has emerged as a promising strategy for passive thermal management, uniquely combining high visible transparency with strong mid-infrared (MIR) emissions. Unlike conventional white and colored radiative coolers, TRCs allow the simultaneous transmission of daylight and dissipation of excessive thermal energy, offering broad potential in energy-intensive applications such as buildings, photovoltaics, electronics, and agriculture. This review systematically summarizes recent progress in TRCs, classifying current approaches into intrinsic TRC, nanoparticle-enhanced TRC, and micro-/nano-structured TRC according to their structures. Representative mechanisms are discussed for achieving a balance between visible transmittance, MIR emissivity, and multifunctional attributes such as ultraviolet shielding, flexibility, self-cleaning, and tunable haze. Application studies reveal remarkable advantages of TRC systems, including reduced building cooling loads, improved photovoltaic efficiency, mitigation of electronic overheating, and enhanced greenhouse productivity. Despite significant advances, key challenges remain in optimizing the trade-offs between transparency and emissivity, ensuring long-term durability under real-world conditions, and developing scalable fabrication methods. Looking forward, opportunities lie in morphology-engineered nanomaterials, multifunctional hybrids designs, and computationally guided optimization to further enhance performance and manufacturability. By integrating transparency, cooling efficiency, and multifunctionality, TRC stands out as a next-generation platform for energy sustainability, thermal comfort, and environmental resilience. • TRCs integrate optical transparency with passive radiative cooling capability. • TRCs are classified into intrinsic, nanoparticle-enhanced, and micro-/nano-structured systems. • Spectral-selective designs enable high visible transmittance with strong MIR emission. • TRCs support sustainable cooling in buildings, electronics, photovoltaics and agriculture.