MIT makes blackest material ever produced

American scientists have created a material that absorbs 99.995 percent of the light, making it extremely black. Carbon nanotubes placed on an aluminum substrate are used for production.

These are scientists from the authoritative technology institute MIT, who have published their findings in the professional journal ACS-Applied Materials and Interfaces. According to the researchers, their material absorbs significantly more light than the material previously known as the ‘most black’, known as Vantablack. While Vantablack absorbs about 99.965 percent of the light, the material developed by MIT does that with 99.995 percent of the light.

To absorb so much light, the researchers work with carbon nanotubes that are placed vertically on a bottom made of aluminum coated with a salt. Incidentally, it was not the intention at all to make an extremely black material in this way; the scientists were actually experimenting with materials to improve the conductivity and thermal properties of aluminum. Incidentally, it was recently also possible to build a 16-bit processor using carbon nanotubes.

Nevertheless, the scientists at MIT do say that there are practical applications for the extremely black material. For example, telescopes would benefit from using the material. Also, artists are allowed to use the material to create art, without requiring a license to the patent pending by MIT.

Although this is the blackest material ever produced, the scientists don’t think the developments stop here. Further research should yield even blacker material, ultimately producing material that absorbs 100% of the light.