Phonon Structure Engineering for Intrinsically Spectrally Selective Emitters by Anion Groups

Spectrally selective emitters (SSEs) have attracted considerable attention, because of radiative cooling, which could dissipate the heat from earth to outer space through the atmospheric window without any energy input. Intrinsically inorganic SSEs have significant advantages to other SSEs, such as...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rui Zhang, Enhui Huang, Wenying Zhong, Bo Xu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Photonics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/6/597
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850165404861726720
author Rui Zhang
Enhui Huang
Wenying Zhong
Bo Xu
author_facet Rui Zhang
Enhui Huang
Wenying Zhong
Bo Xu
author_sort Rui Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Spectrally selective emitters (SSEs) have attracted considerable attention, because of radiative cooling, which could dissipate the heat from earth to outer space through the atmospheric window without any energy input. Intrinsically inorganic SSEs have significant advantages to other SSEs, such as the low fabrication cost due to the extremely simple structures and long life span under solar exposure. However, few inorganic materials can act as intrinsic SSEs due to the limited emissions in the atmospheric window. Here, we propose a strategy to design intrinsic SSEs by complementing the IR-active phonons in atmospheric window with anion groups. Accordingly, we demonstrate borates containing both [BO<sub>3</sub>]<sup>3−</sup> and [BO<sub>4</sub>]<sup>5−</sup> units can exhibit high emissivity within the whole atmospheric window, because the IR-active phonons of [BO<sub>3</sub>]<sup>3−</sup> units usually locate around 8 and 13 μm, while those of [BO<sub>4</sub>]<sup>5−</sup> units distribute in 9~11 μm. Furthermore, K<sub>3</sub>B<sub>6</sub>O<sub>10</sub>Cl and BaAlBO<sub>4</sub> are selected as two examples to display their near-unity emissivity (>95%) within the whole atmospheric window experimentally. These results not only offer a new strategy for the design of intrinsic SSEs, but also endow wide band-gap borates containing both [BO<sub>3</sub>]<sup>3−</sup> and [BO<sub>4</sub>]<sup>5−</sup> units with great potential applications for radiative cooling.
format Article
id doaj-art-b4d665ef69f24fc2bdc53834ff0689de
institution OA Journals
issn 2304-6732
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Photonics
spelling doaj-art-b4d665ef69f24fc2bdc53834ff0689de2025-08-20T02:21:46ZengMDPI AGPhotonics2304-67322025-06-0112659710.3390/photonics12060597Phonon Structure Engineering for Intrinsically Spectrally Selective Emitters by Anion GroupsRui Zhang0Enhui Huang1Wenying Zhong2Bo Xu3Key Laboratory of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, ChinaKey Laboratory of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, ChinaKey Laboratory of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, ChinaKey Laboratory of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, ChinaSpectrally selective emitters (SSEs) have attracted considerable attention, because of radiative cooling, which could dissipate the heat from earth to outer space through the atmospheric window without any energy input. Intrinsically inorganic SSEs have significant advantages to other SSEs, such as the low fabrication cost due to the extremely simple structures and long life span under solar exposure. However, few inorganic materials can act as intrinsic SSEs due to the limited emissions in the atmospheric window. Here, we propose a strategy to design intrinsic SSEs by complementing the IR-active phonons in atmospheric window with anion groups. Accordingly, we demonstrate borates containing both [BO<sub>3</sub>]<sup>3−</sup> and [BO<sub>4</sub>]<sup>5−</sup> units can exhibit high emissivity within the whole atmospheric window, because the IR-active phonons of [BO<sub>3</sub>]<sup>3−</sup> units usually locate around 8 and 13 μm, while those of [BO<sub>4</sub>]<sup>5−</sup> units distribute in 9~11 μm. Furthermore, K<sub>3</sub>B<sub>6</sub>O<sub>10</sub>Cl and BaAlBO<sub>4</sub> are selected as two examples to display their near-unity emissivity (>95%) within the whole atmospheric window experimentally. These results not only offer a new strategy for the design of intrinsic SSEs, but also endow wide band-gap borates containing both [BO<sub>3</sub>]<sup>3−</sup> and [BO<sub>4</sub>]<sup>5−</sup> units with great potential applications for radiative cooling.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/6/597spectrally selective emittersphonon structure engineeringradiative cooling
spellingShingle Rui Zhang
Enhui Huang
Wenying Zhong
Bo Xu
Phonon Structure Engineering for Intrinsically Spectrally Selective Emitters by Anion Groups
Photonics
spectrally selective emitters
phonon structure engineering
radiative cooling
title Phonon Structure Engineering for Intrinsically Spectrally Selective Emitters by Anion Groups
title_full Phonon Structure Engineering for Intrinsically Spectrally Selective Emitters by Anion Groups
title_fullStr Phonon Structure Engineering for Intrinsically Spectrally Selective Emitters by Anion Groups
title_full_unstemmed Phonon Structure Engineering for Intrinsically Spectrally Selective Emitters by Anion Groups
title_short Phonon Structure Engineering for Intrinsically Spectrally Selective Emitters by Anion Groups
title_sort phonon structure engineering for intrinsically spectrally selective emitters by anion groups
topic spectrally selective emitters
phonon structure engineering
radiative cooling
url https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/6/597
work_keys_str_mv AT ruizhang phononstructureengineeringforintrinsicallyspectrallyselectiveemittersbyaniongroups
AT enhuihuang phononstructureengineeringforintrinsicallyspectrallyselectiveemittersbyaniongroups
AT wenyingzhong phononstructureengineeringforintrinsicallyspectrallyselectiveemittersbyaniongroups
AT boxu phononstructureengineeringforintrinsicallyspectrallyselectiveemittersbyaniongroups