Thermal radiative properties of plasma sprayed thermochromic coating

• Thermochromic coatings were synthesized by plasma spraying method.
• The coating exhibits a metal–insulator transition.
• Emissivity increment of the coating at 97–373 K is 0.33.
• Large solar absorptivity of the coating is reported.

Thermochromic coating has been deposited on the substrate of stainless steel by plasma spraying method. Surface morphology, solar absorptivity, and the temperature dependence of infrared spectra and emissivity are reported. The observation of surface morphology shows that the microstructure and the compactness of the coating are related to the spray distance. The investigation of thermal radiative properties indicates that the coating has a large solar absorptivity exceeding 0.8 and its tunable range of emissivity is remarkable, approaching 0.33 at 97–373 K.