The aesthetic demand has become an imperative challenge to advance the practical and commercial application of daytime radiative cooling technology toward mitigating climate change. Meanwhile, the application of radiative cooling materials usually focuses on the building surface, related tightly to fire safety. Herein, the absorption and reflection spectra of organic and inorganic colorants are first compared in solar waveband, finding that iron oxides have higher reflectivity in NIR region. Second, three kinds of iron oxides-based colorants are selected to combine porous structure and silicon-modified ammonium polyphosphate (Si-APP) to engineer colored polyurethane-based (PU) coating, thus enhancing the reflectivity and flame retardancy. Together with reflectivity of more than 90% in near-infrared waveband and infrared emissivity of approximate to 91%, average temperature drops of approximate to 5.7, approximate to 7.9, and approximate to 3.8 degrees C are achieved in porous PU/Fe2O3/Si-APP, porous PU/Fe2O3H2O/Si-APP, and porous PU/Fe3O4H2O/Si-APP, compared with dense control samples. The catalysis effect of iron oxides in the cross-linking reaction of pyrolysis products and dehydration mechanism of Si-APP enable PU coating to produce an intumescent and protective char residue. Consequently, PU composite coatings demonstrate desirable fire safety. The ingenious choice of colorants effectively minimizes the solar heating effect and trades off the daytime radiative cooling and aesthetic appearance requirement.

People's pursuit of aesthetics limits the wide application of radiative cooling materials relying on the white or silver appearance. Herein, a colorful appearance and high-efficiency radiative cooling are simultaneously achieved by the selective absorption and reflection in the visible region and high reflection in the near-infrared waveband. Meanwhile, the fire safety of radiative cooling materials is further enhanced, thus guaranteeing their service performance. image