Peculiar optical properties of the white Phalaenopsis Orchid

Abstract This contribution reports the high diffuse reflectivity of the white Phalaenopsis Orchid petal in the solar spectrum range and its low diffuse reflectivity in the Infrared. Such an elevated reflectivity was found to be of the order of ~94% comparable to standard high reflective materials including ZnO (~92%), TiO 2 (~95%), BaSO 4 (~93%). Such an elevated & low reflectivity in the VIS & NIR spectral regions respectively suggest the bio-mimicking of such a Phalaenopsis Orchid petal’s surface for potential radiative cooling applications.