Large scalable, ultrathin and self-cleaning cellulose aerogel film for daytime radiative cooling

Passive cooling strategy shows great potential in mitigating global warming and reducing energy consumption. Because of the high emissivity in the atmospheric transparency window (λ ≈ 8–13 μm), cellulose is considered as a good candidate for radiative cooling. However, traditional cellulose coolers generally show poor solar reflection and can be polluted by dust outside, thereby resulting in poor daytime cooling efficiency. To address these drawbacks, we developed sustainable cellulose nanowhiskers (CNWs)/ZnO composite aerogel films with favorable optical performance, mechanical robustness, and self-cleaning function for efficient daytime radiative cooling, which can be achieved via freeze casting and hot-pressing process. Due to formation of multi-level porous structure and chemical bonds (Si-O-C/Si-O-Si), such aerogel film exhibited high solar reflectance (97%) and high infrared emittance (92.5%). It achieved a sub-ambient temperature drop of 6.9 °C under direct sunlight in hot weather. Most importantly, the surface roughness and low surface energy enable cellulose aerogel film hydrophobicity (contact angle = 133°), thereby resulting in an anti-dust function. This work provides insight into the design of sustainable thermal regulating materials to realize carbon neutrality.