Jingchong Liu

Passive daytime radiative cooling offers a sustainable cooling strategy by simultaneously reflecting solar radiation and emitting thermal radiation through the mid‐infrared transparent window. However, the coolers that achieve sub‐ambient daytime cooling typically appear white or silver, limiting their use in applications where colored appearances are required. Herein, we report a colored cooler (CoCooler) with a sandwich structure that decouples visible coloration from near‐infrared solar heating. The CoCooler integrates a transparent polydimethylsiloxane emission layer, an inorganic‐colorant‐containing layer, an isolation layer, and a porous radiative cooling layer. The sandwich structure enables selective visible absorption for color generation, strong near‐infrared reflection to minimize solar heating, and broadband mid‐infrared emission for radiative heat dissipation. The red, yellow, and blue CoCoolers exhibit vivid color while maintaining high solar reflectance of 90.70%, 91.58%, and 89.89%, respectively, and high mid‐infrared emissivity of 0.982, 0.983, and 0.982. Under outdoor sunlight, the CoCoolers achieve sub‐ambient temperature drops of 3.7°C–5.4°C, and are 33.3°C–42.2°C cooler than the commercial‐colored paints with similar chromaticity. Building simulations further estimate an average energy savings of 23.8 MJ·m ⁻² and a CO ₂ emission reduction of 11.7 kg·m ⁻² ·yr ⁻¹ . This work provides a practical strategy for colored radiative cooling surfaces toward energy‐efficient building.

Radiative cooling (RC) passively cools terrestrial objects by radiating heat into outer space, providing a fuel-free means for addressing energy and environmental challenges. However, its potential to mitigate global warming at the planetary scale remains unquantified. Herein, we examine global RC power on an annual time scale, which is vital for implementing RC-based technologies. We propose a meteorological data-based model and quantify the RC power across ∼2000 global cities. The geographic disparities of global RC power are analyzed. Regions with temperature reductions exceeding 6 °C and those with RC power over 80 W m–2 are highlighted. Based on the year-round cooling power, we categorize the global RC map into five representative regions. Furthermore, we estimate the CO2 emission reduction of RC deployment and define a theoretical threshold area required to rebalance Earth's energy budget. These results provide a quantitative basis for guiding worldwide RC deployment toward global warming mitigation.

The performance of solar cells (SCs), including the photoelectric conversion efficiency and lifespan, significantly degrades with increasing operating temperature. Spectral-selective radiators with high visible transparency and strong infrared thermal emission offer a practical way to reduce temperatures and enhance SC performance. However, conventional radiators for SCs generally exhibit high transmittance across the entire solar spectrum (0.38–4.0 μm), thereby failing to reflect sub-bandgap (1.1–4.0 μm) irradiance, which can lead to parasitic heating. Herein, we propose a tri-band modulated film (TMF) that is visibly clear, highly reflective under sub-bandgap irradiation, and exhibits strong radiative cooling, thereby enhancing the performance of SCs. The proposed TMF exhibits 90.1% transmittance in the 0.38–1.1 μm range, 81.3% reflectivity the in 1.1–4.0 μm range, and an emissivity of 0.95 in the 6–20 μm range, enabling reduced temperatures and enhanced SC performance. Theoretical analysis and numerical modelling results demonstrate that, compared to glass encapsulation, the TMF reduces the SC operating temperature by 6.13 K and improves the relative photoelectric conversion efficiency by 2.40%, while maintaining stable performance across a wide range of incident angles of solar irradiation. Under practical weather conditions, the TMF reduces the bare-cell temperature by 15.22 K, accompanied by a 4.55% increase in power output. The current TMF provides a highly efficient spectral engineering-based thermal management strategy to enhance SC performance.

Passive daytime radiative cooling has emerged as a promising zero-energy technology for reducing surface temperatures under direct sunlight. Recent advances in single-component cooling materials have improved solar reflectance and infrared emission. However, the fixed band gaps, refractive indices, and phonon modes of single fillers still impose intrinsic limitations, leading to unavoidable absorption dips and a restricted emissive bandwidth, thereby preventing these single-component cooling materials from maintaining strong cooling performance under intense solar irradiance. Here, we develop a composite material that incorporates binary BaSO₄ and Al₂O₃ particles within a hierarchically porous cellulose acetate matrix. This hybrid binary-particles cellulose acetate material (BCA) enables a broadband solar reflectance of 96.0% and a mid-infrared emissivity of 95.2%. The BCA delivers daytime subambient cooling of up to 5.5 °C under solar irradiance of 1000 W·m^–2 and reduces surface temperatures by more than 13 °C when applied to car exteriors, demonstrating its effectiveness for practical application under outdoor conditions. Energy modeling shows that the BCA delivers energy savings greater than 138 kWh·m^–2 for building cooling in representative climates. The BCA also exhibits favorable cost performance, scalability, and recyclability, supporting its potential for large-scale implementation.

Acne vulgaris is a prevalent chronic inflammatory skin condition driven by excessive sebum secretion and follicular blockage. While most existing acne patches emphasize downstream effects, such as antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, they neglect sebum accumulation, a key upstream factor. Efficient removal of this lipid-rich biofluid remains a major challenge. Although existing unidirectional drainage systems have shown success in managing aqueous wound exudates through capillary-driven flow, their designs are poorly suited for viscous, nonpolar secretions like sebum. Here, we present a Janus interpenetrating dressing (BJID) consisting of an oleophilic absorbing layer/underwater oleophobic barrier layer to form a structurally interlocked interface. Mimicking natural liquid collection and directional self-transport mechanisms, the BJID achieves unidirectional oil-phase sebum drainage while preventing backflow. Taking advantage of conical micropores, anisotropic wettability, and directional capillary forces, BJID enables a high rectification ratio of 4.4 and directional transport of sebum droplet while inhibiting reverse diffusion. It also reduces intracellular ROS and suppresses inflammation via the TLR2/NF-κB pathway in C. acnes-stimulated HaCaT cells. In a three-week human trial, BJID reduced acne size and sebum by 31.8% and 21.3% and increased skin hydration by 13.1%. These findings highlight the potential of bioinspired unidirectional oil-phase drainage materials as a new strategy for regulating skin microenvironments and improving acne therapy.

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) are regarded as promising candidates for large‐scale energy storage due to their intrinsic safety, environmental friendliness, and high energy density. However, their practical deployment is hindered by several challenges, including dendrite growth on the anode, dissolution and structural degradation of cathode materials, and the limitations of conventional separators. To address these issues, various materials have been explored. Among them, electrospun nanofibers have emerged as a particularly attractive solution owing to their controllable nanostructures, large specific surface area, and tunable porosity. Although the application of electrospun nanofibers in AZIBs has expanded rapidly in recent years, a systematic review focusing on this topic remains lacking. To fill this gap, this review comprehensively summarizes the recent progress in leveraging electrospun nanofibers to overcome key limitations in AZIBs. Beginning with the fundamentals and structural design strategies of electrospinning, it highlights advances in their integration into cathodes, anode, and separators. Special emphasis is placed on elucidating the working mechanisms of the nanofibers and the structure–performance correlations between their microstructure and electrochemical properties. Finally, the review outlines future directions and remaining challenges in this field, aiming to offer valuable insights for the rational design of electrospun nanofiber architectures toward more efficient AZIBs.

Effective thermal control is critical for the safe operation of spacecraft in the harsh environment of outer space. Radiative cooling (RC), an advanced passive thermal management technology, enables spontaneous heat dissipation via infrared radiation into the ultracold cosmic background. It offers an energy‐efficient solution for maintaining temperature stability without power input. While RC materials have demonstrated promising potential in space applications, a systematic review focusing specifically on their performance and adaptability in space environments remains lacking. To fill this gap, this review first clarifies the fundamental and material‐requirement differences between terrestrial and space‐based RC. Next, it focuses on the space environmental effects on RC materials and their protection strategies, including extreme temperature fluctuations, space dust deposition, vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation, and atomic oxygen (AO) erosion. Finally, key challenges and future research directions are discussed to guide the development of next‐generation RC materials for integrated spacecraft thermal control. This work provides valuable insights into advancing RC technologies, with implications for improving energy efficiency, extending mission lifespans, and enhancing system reliability in future space exploration.

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SDIE) has emerged as a promising technology for addressing global water scarcity by utilizing solar-thermal conversion and evaporation at the air/material/water interface. The exceptional performance of these systems has attracted significant interest; it is imperative to establish rigorous and scientific standards for evaluating effectiveness, optimizing system design, and ensuring efficient practical applications. In this Review, we propose consensus criteria for accurately assessing system performance and guiding future advancements. We then explore the fundamental mechanisms driving system synergy, emphasizing how material compositions, microscopic hierarchical material structures, and macroscopic three-dimensional spatial architecture designs enhance solar absorption and photothermal conversion; balance heat confinement with water pathway optimization; manage salt resistance; and regulate enthalpy during vaporization. These matched coordination strategies are crucial for maximizing the target SDIE efficiency. Additionally, we investigate the practical applications of SDIE technologies, focusing on cutting-edge progress and versatile water purification, combined with atmospheric water harvesting, salt collection, electric generation, and photothermal deicing. Finally, we highlight the challenges and exciting opportunities for advancing research, emphasizing future efforts to integrate fundamental principles, system-level collaboration, and application-driven approaches to boost sustainable and highly efficient water and energy technologies. By linking system performance evaluation with optimization strategies for influencing factors, we offer a comprehensive overview of the field and a future outlook that promotes highly efficient clean water production and synergistic applications.