Spectral self-adaptive absorber/emitter for harvesting energy from the sun and outer space

Abstract

The sun (~6000 K) and outer space (~3 K) are the original heat source and sink for human beings on Earth. The energy applications of absorbing solar irradiation and harvesting the coldness of outer space for energy utilization have attracted considerable interest from researchers. However, combining these two functions in a static device for continuous energy harvesting is unachievable due to the intrinsic infrared spectral conflict. In this study, we developed spectral self-adaptive absorber/emitter (SSA/E) for daytime photothermal and nighttime radiative sky cooling modes depending on the phase transition of the vanadium dioxide coated layer. A 24-hour day-night test showed that the fabricated SSA/E has continuous energy harvesting ability and improved overall energy utilization performance, thus showing remarkable potential in future energy applications.

arXiv comment15 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Mott transition in VO2 revealed by infrared spectroscopy and nano-imaging
• Gate-Controlled VO2 Phase Transition for High-Performance Smart Window
• Full Daytime Sub-ambient Radiative Cooling with High Figure of Merit in Commercial-like Paints
• Thermodynamic Limits of Energy Harvesting from Outgoing Thermal Radiation
• Modeling and optimization of radiative cooling based thermoelectric generators

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Tunable Coatings on Various Substrates for Self-Adaptive Energy Harvesting with Daytime Solar Heating and Nighttime Radiative Cooling
• Maximizing Infrared Transmission Contrast Upon Phase Transition of Thermally Grown Vanadium Dioxide Thin Films by Rapid Thermal Processing