Systems according to the present disclosure provide one or more surfaces that function as power radiating surfaces for which at least a portion of the radiating surface includes or is composed of “fractal cells” placed sufficiently closed close together to one another so that a surface wave causes near replication of current present in one fractal cell in an adjacent fractal cell. The fractal cells may lie on a flat or curved sheet or layer and be composed in layers for wide bandwidth or multibandwidth transmission. The area of a surface and its number of fractals determines the gain relative to a single fractal cell. The boundary edges of the surface may be terminated resistively so as to not degrade the cell performance at the edges. The fractal plasmonic surfaces can be utilized to facilitate electrical conduction with lower ohmic resistance than would otherwise be possible in the absence of the fractal plasmonic surface(s) at the same temperature.

A thermal emission source is provided that has a structure capable of suppressing deterioration of an optical assembly over time. The thermal emission source includes an optical assembly (1) having an optical structure in which a member made of a semiconductor has a refractive index distribution so as to resonate with light of a wavelength shorter than a wavelength that corresponds to an absorption edge corresponding to a band gap of the semiconductor. The optical assembly (1) includes a coating structure (30) with a coating material that differs from the semiconductor of refractive portions (10) and through which light of a wavelength included in a wavelength range from visible light to far infrared rays can be transmitted.

Various aspects as described herein are directed to a radiative cooling device and method for cooling an object. As consistent with one or more embodiments, a radiative cooling device includes a solar spectrum reflecting structure configured and arranged to suppress light modes, and a thermally-emissive structure configured and arranged to facilitate thermally-generated electromagnetic emissions from the object and in mid-infrared (IR) wavelengths.

A passive cooler of the disclosure includes a thermal emitter having a substrate and a coating disposed on at least a portion of a first side of the substrate. The cooler has a beam guide made from a material having a high absorption to solar wavelengths and high reflectance at mid-infrared wavelengths. The beam guide is configured such that at least a portion of incident light is acted on by the beam guide before reaching the thermal emitter. In some embodiments, the beam guide has a graded optical index.

A radiative cooling substrate and a manufacturing method of the radiative cooling substrate are provided. The radiative cooling substrate includes a metallic substrate and a chitosan layer disposed on the metallic substrate with a thickness of 0.5 μm to 10 μm. The chitosan layer emits radiation within a waveband between 8 μm and 13 μm.

A heat exchange apparatus, and method of forming the apparatus, are disclosed. The apparatus includes a thermally conductive substrate with a metal microlattice structure adhered to the thermally conductive substrate and in thermal communication with the thermally conductive substrate, the metal microlattice structure comprising a region containing an electroless metal. A method of making the apparatus includes forming a polymer lattice, applying the polymer lattice to a thermally conductive substrate, forming an electroless plated metal layer on the polymer lattice, forming an electroplated metal layer on the electroless metal layer, and forming a metal microlattice of the electroless metal layer and the electroplated metal layer.

A radiative cooling device having high flexibility that can be retrofitted to an existing outdoor facility.

An infrared radiative layer for radiating infrared light from a radiative surface and a light reflective layer disposed on the side opposite to the presence side of the radiative surface of the infrared radiative layer are provided. The infrared radiative layer is a resin material layer whose thickness is adjusted to discharge a greater thermal radiation energy than absorbed solar light energy in a wavelength band ranging from 8 μm to 14 μm.

Embodiments described herein generally relate to a multi-mode heat transfer system. The heat transfer system includes an emitter device. The emitter device includes an inner core surrounded by an outer core having a thickness and an outer surface. A composite material pattern extends through at least a portion of the outer surface and at least a portion of the thickness of the outer core and is thermally coupled to the inner core. The composite material pattern in combination with an optimized emissivity surface coating/paint profile directs a heat from the inner core to an object other than the emitter device.

A cooling apparatus (1) for cooling a fluid withsurface water, comprising at least one tube (8) for containing and transporting the fluid in its interior, the exterior of the tube (8) being in operation at least partially submerged in the surface water so as to cool the tube (8) to thereby also cool the fluid. The cooling apparatus (1) further comprises at least one light source (9) for producing light that hinders fouling on the submerged exterior, wherein the light source (9) is dimensioned and positioned with respect to the tube (8) so as to cast anti-fouling light over the tube's exterior. By this structure anti-fouling of the cooling apparatus (1) can be assured in an alternative and effective manner.

Methods and functional elements for enhanced thermal management of predominantly enclosed spaces to enable the construction of buildings with reduced power requirements for heating and/or air-conditioning systems. The methods may be in part based on dynamically changing functional elements with variable properties, or effective properties, in terms of their electromagnetic radiative behavior and/or their thermal energy storage properties, or the spatial distribution of the stored thermal energy, which permits the application of methods to control the overall thermal behavior of the entire structure in such a way that desired levels of inside temperature can be reached with reduced consumption of external energy (typically electricity, gas, oil, or coal). In some instances no conventional heating of cooling is required at all. In some instances the invention reduces the time to reach desired temperatures inside such buildings, habitats, or other predominantly enclosed spaces.