Mechanosensitive stacking structure with continuous solar controllability for real-time thermal management†

Adaptive control of solar light based on an optical switching strategy is essential to tune thermal gain, while real-time solar regulation and hence on-demand thermal management coupled with dynamic conditions still faces a formidable challenge. Herein, we develop a stacking structure which is mechanosensitive and can be finely tuned depending on the dynamic cavitation effect. Specifically, the stacking structure transfers from a solid monolith state to porous layered state progressively under mechanical stretching, and the resulting porous layered state gradually goes back to the solid monolith state once the load is released. Such structure switching results in gradual reversible optical transition from highly transparent to highly reflective, giving rise to high solar regulation capability coupled with continuous solar controllability. Based on this, the stacking structure functions allow multiple thermal management, not only for solar heating and radiative cooling, but also multi-stage thermoregulation and real-time thermal management on demand via a simple mechanical method. Moreover, the mechanosensitive stacking structure demonstrates impressive optical stability against external mechanical forces and extreme environments, with the combination of stability, durability, scalability, applicability, and self-cleaning ability.