Recent advances in polymer-based materials by structure and fabrication for efficient passive daytime radiative cooling

Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) can both maximize the thermal emission through the atmospheric window and minimize the absorption of incoming atmospheric radiation, which can realize a net cooling effect without consuming energy. Polymer-based materials have greatly advanced the progress of this technology due to their ease of structure engineering and good adaptability for fabrication. Herein, a critical review is presented on polymer-based materials aiming to meet the requirement for the efficient PDRC characteristics and the commercial applications. Firstly, the fundamental principles and the theoretical simulation for PDRC materials are summarized. Secondly, the review takes a specific perspective based on structure and fabrication of polymer-based materials to summarize the most recent advances in PDRC. Lastly, applying new cases, the remaining open challenges and the insights are presented.