Fig. 5: Thermal cooling applications of the NAVP material.

a Schematic illustrating the temperature variations of the lunar probe during its orbital and re-entry phase. b Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation based on the finite volume method showing the velocity distribution around the lunar probe re-entry capsule in a wind tunnel. Inset: coupled temperature–velocity fields obtained from the CFD simulation. c Temporal evolution of surface temperature for the bare metal and NAVP during droplet impacts at a flow rate of Q = 0.5 ml min⁻¹. d Temporal evolution of surface temperature for the bare metal and NAVP during droplet impacts at a flow rate of Q = 4 ml min⁻¹. Insets: optical and infrared images of NAVPs after exposure to water droplets at Q = 4 mL min⁻¹ for 80 s. e Cumulative cooling effect of water droplets at Q = 4 mL min⁻¹ for 80 s, reducing the surface temperature to 364 °C. x and y denote the length and width of the cooled NAVP surface, respectively. f Cooling performance of NAVPs under varying flow rates (Q = 3–9.5 mL min⁻¹): with a larger Q, a faster cooling response, thereby leading to a lower temperature at which NAVPs are cooled. Inset: photograph of a curved NAVP sample, demonstrating its excellent shape adaptability and mechanical flexibility. g Cumulative cooling under a flow rate of Q = 9.5 mL min⁻¹ for 80 s, reducing the surface temperature to ~250 °C. x and y denote the length and width of the cooled NAVP surface, respectively. h Comparison of density and maximum working temperature (i.e., Leidenfrost temperature, LFT) among various structure materials, including Decoupled hierarchical structure¹⁷, Co decoupled hierarchical structure⁵, Structured thermal armours³, Micro-nano hierarchical structure^9,18, Custom-fabricated structure⁸. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.