Radiative Thermal Management for Extreme Environments: Mechanisms and Design Strategies

The energy-intensive and environmentally unsustainable nature of conventional air-conditioning systems, combined with the accelerating impacts of climate change, has underscored an urgent need for environmentally friendly and durable thermal regulation technologies. In response, radiative thermal management technologies, including radiative cooling and solar heating, have emerged as promising passive approaches. However, conventional standalone radiative thermal management systems often exhibit performance limitations under extreme thermal conditions and diverse environmental stressors, highlighting the need for comprehensive and adaptive approaches. In this review, we discuss the fundamental physical mechanisms and material engineering strategies of radiative thermal management, encompassing intrinsic material properties and structural design principles. Furthermore, we introduce hybrid…