High-throughput in situ fabrication of fibrous membranes enables scalable passive radiative cooling

Abstract

Deploying fibrous membranes for passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) on large and irregular surfaces is highly desirable but remains challenging, owing to the slow deposition rates and the need for electrically conductive substrates in conventional electrospinning. Here, we demonstrate a high-throughput in situ strategy for fabricating nanocomposite PDRC fibrous membranes via solution blow spinning. This method achieves deposition rates 8–12 times faster than electrospinning and can be applied directly onto nonplanar, nonconductive objects. The resulting membranes, composed of styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene (SEBS) fibers embedded with Y₂O₃ nanoparticles, achieve sub-ambient cooling of up to 7.0 °C outdoors, effectively delaying ice melting. Moreover, they are fully recyclable through simple cleaning, dissolution, and reprocessing. This scalable and sustainable fabrication route provides a versatile and practical platform for integrating PDRC fibrous membranes across diverse surfaces, paving the way toward real-world thermal management applications.