Thermal Metamaterials: Markets, Technology 2025-2045

This report reveals the large commercial opportunities arising from emerging thermal metamaterials. It explains how they have a unique thermal performance based on physical structure and patterning, rather than chemical composition, but future forms will also leverage advanced materials. These artificial structures manipulate the direction and magnitude of heat flow often in a manner opposite to that typically encountered in nature. Headed to become a market of over $13 billion, applications include thermal cloaking and illusion for the military and improved energy harvesting, cooling, thermoelectric devices, and thermal management of power electronic devices for the rest of us. 

Greenhouse magic

The report shows how incorporating smart materials can create a greenhouse that cools in a hot country but also one that is hotter in a cold country. Metamaterial apparel that strongly cools without power is already on sale: cooling paint for vehicles is under development. Planned powered metamaterials will be reconfigurable, even self-adjusting during use.  Can they reduce the need for vapor compression cooling that heats our cities? It is all here in a 279 page commercially-oriented report with seven chapters and 27 forecast lines 2025-2045. 

Commercial opportunities in detail 

The Executive Summary and Conclusions is sufficient in itself, with 38 pages including 10 key conclusions, those forecasts as tables and graphs with explanations, easily absorbed comparisons, roadmaps 2025-2045 and new infograms. 

The 37-page Introduction explains the technology, displays many examples. It then spells out global warming, hotter electronics and other challenges that will be addressed by thermal metamaterials. Cooling is identified as the most important target market.  

Chapter 3. “Thermal metamaterial principles and functions”  (42 pages) explains these from the commercial point of view. Important functions are shown to include thermally radiative metamaterials, advanced photonic cooling and prevention of heating, ultra-conductive thermal metamaterials, thermal convection in liquids enhanced by metamaterials, thermal cloak, camouflage, concentrator, diode, expander and rotator but with more to come. However, it is found that there is strong competition in many of these cases so the next phase will be important where thermal metamaterials will advance to performing functions largely impossible in any other way. 

Chapter 4. covers these under the title, “The next stage: Active, dynamic and tunable thermal metamaterials” (18 pages). See examples of progress and target applications that include tunable liquid-solid hybrid, unified static and dynamic, sensing and responding to ambient temperatures, advanced thermal radiation devices: stealth with thermal management, active remote sensing and thermal camouflage, dynamic control of heat flux and heat flow direction possibly for electric vehicle batteries, adaptive radiative cooling, passive thermoregulation and thermal-mechanical metamaterials. This is all supported by detail on the latest research advances in 2024-5.

Chapter 5. Manufacturing technologies and materials for thermal metamaterials takes 21 pages to illustrate how 3D printing and later 4D printing are important for bulk meshes acting as thermal metamaterials but  reel-to-reel manufacture will be important for laminar formats such as those manipulating infrared radiation. Plenty of latest examples and opportunities are revealed and quantified, including the next stage of functionally graded and metal with non-metal structures emerge.   

The 53 pages of Chapter 6. “Some targetted applications of thermal metamaterials and their research advances 2024-5” brings it all alive with applications from sensors to surgical robots and spacecraft. Explore latest progress with compact polarised light emitters, smarter greenhouses, smart windows and satellite thermal control, harvesting industrial heat, thermal metalens, microchip and photovoltaics cooling, thermal packaging of electronics, textiles that cool and thermoelectric harvesters and coolers enhanced by thermal metamaterials. Add energy-free thermostats,  negative-energy and multi-temperature maintenance containers and vehicle cooling paint.

The report closes with a long chapter on what may become the largest market for thermal metamaterials. Chapter 7. “Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) using metamaterials” uses 59 pages to fully explain this technology and the likely place of thermal metamaterials in it, with SWOT appraisals and a detailed look at research breakthroughs and company initiatives 2024-5.