Hetero-assembly design of 2D oxide nanosheets for tailored thermal shielding materials

We present a new approach for designing thermal shielding materials using two-dimensional oxide nanosheets. Our approach uses hetero-assembly design [(Ti0.87O2)(m)(Cs2.7W11O35-d)(20) (m = 0, 5, 10)] by overlaying high refractive index (n) Ti0.87O2 nanosheets with transparent conducting Cs2.7W11O35-d nanosheets. Through proper design of the thickness of high-n Ti0.87O2 layers, we achieved the optimum thermal shielding properties with a high NIR reflectance (>46%), a high visible transparency (>76%) and a neutral color in an ultrathin form (<60 nm). Our nanosheet approach is of technological importance for exploring new thermal shielding materials.