Revolutionizing Passive Radiative Cooling Materials: Biomass-Based Photoluminescent Aerogels Opens New Frontiers for Sustainable Energy Efficiency Cooling Solutions

Abstract

With the increasing global energy consumption and cooling demands, traditional active cooling technologies face inefficiency and environmental challenges. Recently published in Science, a team led by Prof. Hai-bo Zhao has proposed and developed a biomass-based photoluminescent aerogel made from DNA and gelatin to address these challenges. This material achieves a solar-weighted reflectance of over 100% (0.4–0.8 μm) and provides a cooling effect of 16.0 °C under sunlight. This sustainable material is repairable, recyclable, and biodegradable, offering significant potential for energy-efficient buildings and wearable cooling devices.

Keywords

Engineering / Materials Engineering / Interdisciplinary Engineering

References

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China(52373085)

Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province(2023AFA828)

Innovative Team Program of Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province(2023AFA027)

Department of Science and Technology of Hubei Province(2021CSA076)

Open Fund for Hubei Key Laboratory of Digital Textile Equipment, Wuhan Textile University(DTL2023022)

Open Fund for National Local Joint Laboratory for Advanced Textile Processing and Clean Production(17)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Donghua University, Shanghai, China