VO2-based intelligent thermal control coating for spacecraft by regulating infrared emittance

Intelligent thermal control coating (ITCC) for the thermal management of the spacecraft needs a high emittance on the sunny side to consume the energy absorbed from the sun and a low emittance on the night side to reduce the energy radiated to the space. Because of the thermochromic phase transition from the semiconducting state to the metallic state at 68 °C, the VO2 with dynamic emittance is a viable option as an intelligent thermal control coating. In this work, a simple three layers Ag/SiO2/VO2 ITCC has been demonstrated, and the ITCC shows a low emittance εL of 0.07 at temperature of 293 K, and a high emittance εH of 0.59 at temperature of 353 K. The VO2 based ITCC designed with the near-field effect provides a new energy-efficient and cost-effective way in the thermal management system for the spacecraft.