How black is the world's blackest material?
The world’s darkest material may have gotten even darker, defying even spectrometers, which cannot quantify its blackness.Surrey NanoSystems’ Vertically Aligned Nanotube Array black, or Vantablack, was developed in 2014 as the blackest known substance on Earth. Vantablack was originally created for use on satellites, but its high light absorption and ability to convert the trapped light into heat have made it a desirable product across scientific and commercial domains.
The blackness of Vantablack is so extreme that it confounds the eye. “It is so dark that the human eye cannot understand what it is seeing. Shapes and contours are lost, leaving nothing but an apparent abyss,” Ian Johnston of The Independent wrote in 2014.
Vantablack is made up of “a ‘forest’ of aligned and equally spaced, high aspect-ratio carbon nanotubes,” according to Surrey NanoSystems’ product description. Photons entering the thicket of tubing become trapped in the microscopic system and are bounced between the carbon tubing, eventually becoming heat before dissipating. The scientific development company says that the composition of the tubes means that Vantablack coating is almost entirely made up of free space, making it extremely light, flexible, and durable - although applied pressure such as touch can damage the nanostructures.
by Ben Thompson, CSM | Read more:
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