[8] Potential applications include use in memory devices,[9][10] phase-change switches,[11] passive radiative cooling applications, such as smart windows and roofs, that cool or warm depending on temperature,[12][13][14] aerospace communication systems and neuromorphic computing.

As a result, the number of V4+ ions in the crystallographic unit cell doubles from the rutile to the monoclinic phase.

[5] The equilibrium morphology of rutile VO2 particles is acicular, laterally confined by (110) surfaces, which are the most stable termination planes.

[4] The origin of this insulator to metal transition remains controversial and is of interest both for condensed matter physics[26] and practical applications, such as electrical switches, tunable electrical filters, power limiters, nano-oscillators,[27] memristors, field-effect transistors and metamaterials.

When heated from room temperature to 80 °C (353 K), the material's thermal radiation rises normally until 74 °C (347 K), before suddenly appearing to drop to around 20 °C (293 K).

When the vanadium oxide transitions with increased temperature, the structure undergoes a sudden decrease in emissivity – looking colder to infrared cameras than it really is.

[31][33] Nanoscale structures that appear naturally in the materials' transition region can suppress thermal radiation as the temperature rises.

[31] Undoped and tungsten-doped vanadium dioxide films can act as "spectrally-selective" coatings to block infrared transmission and reduce the loss of building interior heat through windows.

Temperature-based switching can be essential to mitigate potential "overcooling" effects of radiative cooling devices in urban environments, especially those with hot summers and cool winters, making it possible for radiative coolers to also function as passive heating devices when necessary.

[40][41] The insulator-metal phase transition in VO2 can be manipulated at the nanoscale using a biased conducting atomic force microscope tip,[42] suggesting applications in computing and information storage.