This paper introduces infrared dipole antennas made of tunable thermochromic materials for self-adaptive thermoregulation. Non-spherical antennas (rods, stars, and flakes) made of vanadium dioxide exhibit a massive increase in absorption cross-section with rising temperature. Embedding these antennas in polymer films creates free-form thermoregulation composites with outstanding emissivity switching. This research enables versatile self-adaptive heat management solutions applicable in radiative cooling, heat sensing, and thermal camouflage.

Francisco V. Ramirez-Cuevas, Kargal L. Gurunatha, Lingxi Li, Usama Zulfiqar, Sanjayan Sathasivam, Manish K. Tiwari, Ivan P. Parkin, Ioannis Papakonstantinou