Scientists develop extremely black material

Scientists have developed a material that is so black that it appears to the naked eye as a kind of void. This is because the material absorbs almost all the light that falls on it.

The makers, who are funded by the British company Surrey NanoSystems, state in an interview with The Independent that the material only reflects 0.035 percent of the light that falls on it, a record. The results have also been published in the trade journal Optics Express. Because the material absorbs so much light, it is extremely black. In fact, it is so black that the human perception system can no longer distinguish shapes: the material looks like a kind of black hole.

Surrey NanoSystems has named the material VantaBlack and will be demonstrated this week at the Farnborough International Airshow. VantaBlack is made with carbon nanofibers that are so small that no light can penetrate, but it can be trapped between fibers. There it is eventually absorbed. The light is then converted into heat: according to the scientists, the material conducts heat 7.5 times better than copper. In addition, it is ten times stronger than steel.

The extremely black material has several possible applications, according to the makers. For example, it can be used for telescopes and space cameras. There are also military applications, but the makers are not allowed to reveal anything about that.