# Biomimetic Daytime Radiative Cooling Technology: Prospects and Challenges for Practical Application

## TL;DR

This paper reviews biomimetic approaches to improve daytime radiative cooling technology by learning from nature's designs and addressing challenges in scalability and performance.

## Contribution

The paper systematically reviews biomimetic strategies for radiative cooling, highlighting their mechanisms and application potential while identifying key challenges.

## Key findings

- Structural biomimicry offers excellent optical performance but is limited by complex fabrication and high costs.
- Material-based biomimicry is scalable but lacks mechanical durability.
- Adaptive biomimicry enables intelligent regulation but struggles with system complexity and integration.

## Abstract

Biomimetic structures inspired by evolutionary optimized biological systems offer promising solutions to overcome current limitations in passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) technology, which efficiently scatters solar radiation through atmospheric windows and radiates surface heat into space without additional energy consumption. While structural biomimicry provides excellent optical performance and feasibility, its complex manufacturing and high costs limit scalability due to micro–nano fabrication constraints. Material-based biomimicry, utilizing environmentally friendly and abundant raw materials, offers greater scalability but requires improvements in mechanical durability. Adaptive biomimicry enables intelligent regulation with high responsiveness but faces challenges in system complexity, stability, and large-scale integration. These biologically derived strategies provide valuable insights for advancing radiative cooling devices. This review systematically summarizes recent progress, elucidates mechanisms of key biological structures for photothermal regulation, and explores their application potential across various fields. It also discusses current challenges and future research directions, aiming to promote deeper investigation and breakthroughs in biomimetic radiative cooling technologies.