Infrared thermochromic antenna composite for self-adaptive thermoregulation

Francisco V. Ramirez-Cuevas, Kargal L. Gurunatha, Lingxi Li, Usama Zulfiqar, Sanjayan Sathasivam, Manish K. Tiwari, Ivan P. Parkin and Ioannis Papakonstantinou ()
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Francisco V. Ramirez-Cuevas: University College London
Kargal L. Gurunatha: University College London
Lingxi Li: University College London
Usama Zulfiqar: University College London
Sanjayan Sathasivam: London South Bank University
Manish K. Tiwari: University College London
Ivan P. Parkin: University College London
Ioannis Papakonstantinou: University College London

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Self-adaptive thermoregulation, the mechanism living organisms use to balance their temperature, holds great promise for decarbonizing cooling and heating processes. This functionality can be effectively emulated by engineering the thermal emissivity of materials to adapt to background temperature variations. Yet, solutions that marry large emissivity switching ( $$\varDelta \epsilon$$ Δ ϵ ) with scalability, cost-effectiveness, and design freedom are still lacking. Here, we fill this gap by introducing infrared dipole antennas made of tunable thermochromic materials. We demonstrate that non-spherical antennas (rods, stars and flakes) made of vanadium-dioxide can exhibit a massive (~200-fold) increase in their absorption cross-section as temperature rises. Embedding these antennas in polymer films, or simply spraying them directly, creates free-form thermoregulation composites, featuring an outstanding $$\varDelta \epsilon \sim 0.6$$ Δ ϵ ~ 0.6 in spectral ranges that can be tuned at will. Our research paves the way for versatile self-adaptive heat management solutions (coatings, fibers, membranes, and films) that could find application in radiative-cooling, heat-sensing, thermal-camouflage, and other.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53177-6

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