Passive radiative cooling materials for extreme weather: mechanisms, design strategies, and application advances
Abstract
under favorable clear-sky conditions. However, field data show that hot-humid climates can suppress or eliminate true sub-ambient cooling, shifting the practical benefit toward reduced heat gain rather than idealized temperature depression. We therefore organize the field around three linked questions: how optical mechanisms define the theoretical cooling limit, how scalable polymer and particle architectures trade spectral performance against manufacturability, and how durability, soiling, and adaptive operation determine outdoor service life. By connecting photonic design, polymer chemistry, field performance, and deployment barriers, this review identifies the material families and research gaps most relevant to building-scale and climate-resilient cooling.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies
Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications
Urban Heat Island Mitigation
Publication details
- Journal / source
- RSC Advances
- Publisher
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 36
- Pages
- 37385–37396
- Publication date
- 1 January 2026
- Language
- EN