Longwave-transparent low-emissivity material
Abstract
Low emissivity (low-e) materials are crucial for conserving thermal energy in buildings, cold chain logistics and transportation by minimizing unwanted radiative heat loss or gain. However, their metallic nature intrinsically causes severe longwave attenuation, hindering their broad applications. Here, we introduce, for the first time, an all-dielectric longwave-transparent low-emissivity material (LLM) with ultra-broadband, high transmittance spanning 9 orders of magnitude, from terahertz to kilohertz frequencies. This meter-scale LLM not only achieves energy savings of up to 41.1% over commercial white paint and 10.2% over traditional low-e materials, but also unlocks various fundamentally new capabilities including high-speed wireless communication in energy-efficient buildings, wireless energy transfer with radiative thermal insulation, as well as non-invasive terahertz security screening and radio frequency identification in cold chain logistics. Our approach represents a new photonic solution towards carbon neutrality and smart city development, paving the way for a more sustainable and interconnected future.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2510.16372,
title = {Longwave-transparent low-emissivity material},
author = {Yue Zhang and Longnan Li and Junyan Dai and Xiaowen Zhang and Qunyan Zhou and Naiqin Yi and Ruizhe Jian and Fei Zhu and Xiaopeng Li and Mengke Sun and Jiazheng Wu and Xinfeng Li and Xiangtong Kong and Ziai Liu and Yinwei Li and Qiang Cheng and Yiming Zhu and Tie Jun Cui and Wei Li},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.16372},
year = {2025}
}