Micro/nano particles reinforced polymer composites as greenhouse films for heat retention purposes

Abstract The aim and objective of this review is to intensively summarize composite film materials that can achieve thermal radiation insulation without affecting visible light transmittance, in order to reduce the heat loss in greenhouses and thus save energy. Eight kinds of composite films, which could be used for radiation insulation, were finally determined and intensively reviewed by searching the key words including insulation film, insulation agent, and infrared insulation. These materials can be divided into two categories: silica/poly and zinc oxide/poly composites. The radiation thermal insulation property and light transmission property of these materials were experimentally tested by spectrometry. The key finding of this article includes that phonon resonance and Anderson localization could be used to block thermal infrared radiation by generalizing material properties. The conclusion of this review is that those materials have at least a 10% increase in infrared thermal radiation blocking, but only a small decrease in visible light transmittance.