Dual-Phase Transformation: Spontaneous Self-Template Surface-Patterning Strategy for Ultra-transparent VO₂ Solar Modulating Coatings

Dual-phase transformation has been developed as a template-free surface patterning technique in this study. Ordered VO₂ honeycomb structures with a complex hierarchy have been fabricated via this method, and the microstructures of the obtained VO₂(M) coatings are tunable by tailoring the pertinent variables. The VO₂(M) honeycomb-structured coatings have excellent visible light transmittance at 700 nm (T_vis) up to 95.4% with decent solar modulating ability (T_sol) of 5.5%, creating the potential as ultratransparent smart solar modulating coatings. Its excellent performance has been confirmed by a proof-of-principle demonstration. The dual-phase transformation technique has dramatically simplified the conventional colloidal lithography technique as a scalable surface patterning technique for achieving high-performance metal oxide coatings with diverse applications, such as catalysis, sensing, optics, electronics, and superwettable materials.