Radiative Thermal Management for Extreme Environments: Mechanisms and Design Strategies

The energy-intensive and environmentally unsustainable nature of conventional air-conditioning systems, combined with the accelerating impacts of climate change, has underscored an urgent need for environmentally friendly and durable thermal regulation technologies. In response, radiative thermal management technologies, including radiative cooling and solar heating, have emerged as promising passive approaches. However, conventional standalone radiative thermal management systems often exhibit performance limitations under extreme thermal conditions and diverse environmental stressors, highlighting the need for comprehensive and adaptive approaches. In this review, we discuss the fundamental physical mechanisms and material engineering strategies of radiative thermal management, encompassing intrinsic material properties and structural design principles. Furthermore, we introduce hybrid approaches that integrate radiative thermal management with thermal conduction, thermal insulation, phase change materials, and evaporative cooling, as well as dual-mode radiative thermal management strategies designed to cope with extreme thermal environments. Additionally, we explore environment-adaptive design strategies that address complex environmental stressors by improving self-cleaning ability, ultraviolet (UV) resistance, fire retardancy, and mechanical robustness. Finally, we outline key challenges and future research directions, including material limitations and device trade-offs, the expansion toward multifunctional applications, and scalable manufacturing. Collectively, this review provides a comprehensive perspective on the practical realization of next-generation radiative thermal management technologies.