High-Throughput In-Situ Fabrication of Fibrous Membranes Enables Scalable Passive Radiative Cooling

TL;DR

This paper introduces a rapid, scalable solution blow spinning method to produce fibrous membranes for passive radiative cooling, capable of coating complex surfaces and achieving significant outdoor cooling effects.

Contribution

The study presents a high-throughput in-situ fabrication technique for PDRC membranes that surpasses electrospinning in speed and applicability to nonplanar surfaces.

Findings

Deposition rates are 8-12 times faster than electrospinning.

Membranes achieve up to 7.0°C cooling outdoors.

Membranes are fully recyclable and reusable.

Abstract

Deploying fibrous membranes for passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) on large and irregular surfaces is highly desirable but remains challenging, owing to the slow deposition rates and the need for electrically conductive substrates in conventional electrospinning. Here, we demonstrate a high-throughput in-situ strategy for fabricating nanocomposite PDRC fibrous membranes via solution blow spinning. This method achieves deposition rates 8-12 times faster than electrospinning and can be applied directly onto nonplanar, nonconductive objects. The resulting membranes, composed of styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) fibers embedded with Y2O3 nanoparticles, achieve sub-ambient cooling of up to 7.0 {\deg}C outdoors, effectively delaying ice melting. Moreover, they are fully recyclable through simple cleaning, dissolution, and reprocessing. This scalable and sustainable fabrication route provides a versatile and practical platform for integrating PDRC fibrous membranes across diverse surfaces, paving the way toward real-world thermal management applications.