Thermally insulating radiative coolers: fundamentals, manufacturing, and applications in energy-efficient buildings

Abstract

Incremental requirements for thermal comfort in living environments significantly increase the burden of energy consumption on buildings, which has attracted widespread attention from researchers in this field. In response to this challenge, thermally insulating materials with radiative cooling functions have been developed over the past five years to effectively reduce building energy consumption. This review emphasizes the working principles, representative advances, processing technologies, and energy-saving applications of the state-of-the-art insulating coolers, including ceramic-based coolers, polymer-based coolers, and composite coolers. A comprehensive analysis and discussion is conducted based on the current research progress, and future developments are forecasted. This summary with high timeliness aims to provide guidance for this emerging field.