Night-time radiative warming using the atmosphere

Light Sci Appl. 2023 Nov 10;12(1):268. doi: 10.1038/s41377-023-01315-y.ABSTRACTNight-time warming is vital for human production and daily life. Conventional methods like active heaters are energy-intensive, while passive insulating films possess restrictions regarding space consumption and the lack of heat gain. In this work, a nanophotonic-based night-time warming strategy that passively inhibits thermal radiation of objects while actively harnessing that of atmosphere is proposed. By using a photonic-engineered thin film that exhibits high reflectivity (~0.91) in the atmospheric transparent band (8-14 μm) and high absorptivity (~0.7) in the atmospheric radiative band (5-8 and 14-16 μm), temperature rise of 2.1 °C/4.4 °C compared to typical low-e film and broadband absorber is achieved. Moreover, net heat loss as low as 9 W m-2 is experimentally observed, compared to 16 and 39 W m-2 for low-e film and broadband absorber, respectively. This strategy suggests an innovative way for sustainable warming, thus contributes to addressing the challenges of climate change and promoting global carbon neutrality.PMID:37949868 | PMC:PMC10638402 | DOI:10.1038/s41377-023-01315-y
Source: Appl Human Sci - Category: Physiology Authors: Source Type: research