A self-regulated photothermal anti-/deicing film for all-season applications Jiayu Du, Wenqi Wang, Yang Fu, Xin Li, Jie Tan, Hao Li, Xu Chen, Fuqiang Chu, Qi Min, Chi Yan Tso Nature Communications, 2026 Ice accumulation poses a significant threat to aviation safety and energy infrastructure. Photothermal superhydrophobic surfaces offer a promising anti-/deicing strategy; however, their excessive heat absorption in summer accelerates material degradation and exacerbates urban heat island effects, highlighting the urgent need for dynamic thermal regulation. In this study, we present a self-regulated photothermal storage superhydrophobic film with a trilayer design, comprising a photothermal phase-change base layer, a freeze-resistant thermochromic hydrogel interlayer, and a transparent superhydrophobic top layer. This multifunctional design enables seasonal adaptability, achieving 92% solar absorptance for efficient anti-/deicing in winter and 62% solar modulation to mitigate overheating in summer. This dual mode prolongs freezing time by 10-fold at −20 °C and lowers surface temperature by up to 17 °C in hot weather, demonstrating substantial potential for global building energy-savings. Additionally, its ultraviolet-blocking capability and durable superhydrophobicity ensure long-term durability performance in harsh environments. This work not only addresses the critical overheating challenge in photothermal materials but also advances the development of next-generation anti-icing systems.
Vacancy-Triggered Active Modulation on the Thermal Response of Interfacial Polarization Enables Highly Stable Broad-Temperature Electromagnetic Wave Absorption Xiaoke Lu, Xin Li, Kun Wei, Ziwei Yang, Weizhuo Gao, Hongcheng Xu, Chuanyu Zhang, Hailong Xu, Hongjing Wu, Xueyong Wei Advanced Functional Materials, 2026 Maintaining stable electromagnetic wave absorption across wide temperature ranges hinges on utilizing the negative temperature response of interfacial polarization loss to compensate for increasing conductive loss at elevated temperatures. But the response amplitude is recognized as an uncontrollable parameter that passively relies on the temperature variation range, hindering the development of effective compensation. Herein, a strategy is proposed to actively amplify the temperature response amplitude of interfacial polarization through vacancy‐mediated thermal reconfiguration of interfacial charges. In SiC@ZnIn2S4 heterostructures, controlled sulfur vacancy engineering enhances mobile interfacial charge density and thermal responsiveness, significantly enlarges interfacial charge density differentials before/after thermal excitation, achieving thermal response amplification of interfacial polarization. This active amplification mechanism achieves 93% compensation efficiency for excessive conductive loss during heating—a 65% improvement over passive systems. Consequently, optimized dynamic impedance matching maintains reflection loss below −10 dB in X‐band from room temperature to 300 °C. This work elucidates the mechanism of vacancy‐modulated interfacial charge dynamics via in situ characterization and multimodal calculations, while resolving the persistent challenge of temperature‐passive‐limited polarization response. The established paradigm of “vacancy‐triggered active modulation on the thermal response of interfacial polarization” provides a readily generalizable design framework for wide‐temperature electromagnetic functional materials.
Ensemble learning framework for radiative cooling coatings in China's buildings Ze Li, Jianheng Chen, Wenqi Wang, Yang Fu, Xin Li, Aiqiang Pan, Yiying Zhou, Shimelis Admassie, Chi Yan Tso Advances in Applied Energy, 2025 • An ensemble learning framework integrates urban canopy and building energy models. • CatBoost achieves R 2 of 0.948–0.989 in predicting radiative cooling performance. • Feature importance analysis identifies longwave radiation as a key factor. • The framework extends simulations for 111 cities to predict 308 cities nationwide. • Radiative cooling coatings save up to 50 MWh of electricity yearly in hot regions. Radiative cooling (RC) coatings have emerged as a promising strategy to mitigate the urban heat island effect and improve energy performance in residential buildings. However, their effect varies significantly across different climate zones and urban configurations, underscoring the need for targeted deployment strategies. In this study, an ensemble learning framework was developed by integrating the urban canopy model with the building energy model to predict the energy performance of RC coatings on residential buildings throughout China. A dataset of 5080 cases was generated, and CatBoost demonstrated excellent predictive accuracy (R 2 = 0.948–0.989). SHapley Additive exPlanations analysis identified longwave radiation and building geometry as the most influential factors affecting RC coating energy performance. The trained prediction model was further applied to evaluate six representative cities across diverse climate zones, for community-level evaluation. Additionally, national-scale predictions were conducted by the framework, using simulations of 111 cities, showing RC coatings are most effective in climate zones with hot summer and warm winter, with maximum annual electricity savings of approximately 50 MWh and maximum carbon emission reductions of around 20 kg·m -2 per year in a hypothetical residential neighborhood. In contrast, their benefits are more limited in cold climate zones due to increased heating demand. These findings provide an effective framework for optimizing RC coating deployment strategies under varying climatic conditions. Furthermore, the framework holds the potential to expand these analyses globally, enabling the evaluation of RC coatings across diverse building types and regions to support worldwide energy and carbon reduction goals.
Photoluminescent radiative cooling for aesthetic and urban comfort Yang Fu, Xue Ma, Xiao-Wen Zhang, Ze Li, Chuyao Wang, Kaixin Lin, Yiying Zhou, Aiqiang Pan, Xu Chen, Xin Li, Wenqi Wang, Chui Ting Kwok, Yi-Hao Zhu, Xiao Xue, Xin Zhao, Andrey L. Rogach, Longnan Li, Wei Li, Chi Yan Tso Nature Sustainability, 2025
Vanadium dioxide - Perovskite tandem smart windows achieve full-spectrum modulation via plasmonic Fabry-Pérot engineering Qiuyi Shi, Bowen Li, Yuwei Du, Sai Liu, Rui Zhang, Cancheng Jiang, Xin Li, Muhammad Fahim, Irum Firdous, Johnny C.Y. Ho, Chi Yan Tso Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025 Conventional thermochromic windows are limited by their single-band modulation, which restricts their ability to simultaneously manage solar light and mid-infrared heat radiation . This study introduces a novel Full-spectrum Modulated Perovskite-based Smart Window (FMPSW) that can simultaneously regulate solar light transmittance and mid-infrared emissivity in response to thermal changes while maintaining high luminous transmittance. By integrating optical simulations with experimental validation, the optimized FMPSW design demonstrates exceptional energy-saving potential through the incorporation of Fabry-Pérot resonance and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). The optimized design achieves remarkable solar modulation (16 %) and emissivity modulation (33.4 %) simultaneously, with a cold-state luminous transmittance exceeding 40 %. Experimental results also show a maximum emissivity adjustment of 46 % without compromising high luminous transmittance levels. Furthermore, EnergyPlus simulations confirm the practical applicability of FMPSW, demonstrating significant energy savings across cold (Beijing), temperate (Shanghai), and sub-tropical (Hong Kong) climates. Specifically, the proposed window system achieves a 22.66 % annual cooling energy reduction in tropical climates compared to conventional glass, addressing critical urbanization challenges. This research not only advances the development of adaptive thermochromic windows but also establishes a pioneering material integration paradigm for sustainable architecture, particularly targeting energy-intensive urbanization in tropical regions.
Built-In Electric Field Enhancement Strategy Induced by Cross-Dimensional Nano-Heterointerface Design for Electromagnetic Wave Absorption Xin Li, Xinlei Wang, Minghang Li, Wenjie Zhu, Haojie Luo, Xiaoke Lu, Hailong Xu, Jimei Xue, Fang Ye, Hongjing Wu, Xiaomeng Fan Advanced Functional Materials, 2025 Nano‐heterointerface engineering has been demonstrated to influence interfacial polarization by expanding the interface surface area and constructing a built‐in electric field (BEF), thus regulating electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption. However, the dielectric‐responsive mechanism of the BEF needs further exploration to enhance the comprehensive understanding of interfacial polarization, particularly in terms of quantifying and optimizing the BEF strength. Herein, a “1D expanded 2D structure” carbon matrix is designed, and semiconductor ZnIn2S4 (ZIS) is introduced to construct a carbon/ZIS heterostructure. The cross‐dimensional nano‐heterointerface design increases interface coupling sites by expanding the interface surface area and induces an increase in the Fermi level difference on both sides of the interface to modulate the distribution of interface charges, thereby strengthening the BEF at the interface. The synergistic effect leads to excellent EM absorption performance (minimum reflection coefficient RCmin = −67.4 dB, effective absorption bandwidth EAB = 6.0 GHz) of carbon/ZIS heterostructure. This work introduces a general modification model for enhancing interfacial polarization and inspires the development of new strategies for EM functional materials with unique electronic behaviors through heterointerface engineering.
