2021/03/08 by Haoming Fang, Wanrong Xie, Fang, Haoming +18
Engineering · Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Optical properties and cooling technologies in crystalline materials #Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies #Urban Heat Island Mitigation #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.soft #physics.app-ph #physics.optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2104.05469
arxiv created 2021/03/08 · arxiv updated 2021/04/13
Thermal management is ubiquitous in the modern world and indispensable for a sustainable future. Radiative heat management provides unique advantages because the heat transfer can be controlled by the surface. However, different surface emissivities require different tuning strategies. Here, we demonstrate a triple-mode mid-infrared modulator that can switch between passive heating and cooling suitable for all types of object surface emissivities. The device is composed of a surface-textured infrared-semi-transparent elastomer coated with a metallic back reflector, which is biaxially strained to sequentially achieve three fundamental modes: emission, reflection, and transmission. By analyzing and optimizing the coupling between optical and mechanical properties, we achieve a performance of emittance contrast = 0.58, transmittance contrast = 0.49, and reflectance contrast = 0.39. The device can provide a new design paradigm of radiation heat regulation to develop the next generation wearable devices, robotics, and camouflage technology.