Carbon nanotubes used to create blackest material ever
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028090
Verge : Surrey NanoSystems in the UK has announced its development of a new thin-film material that is so dark the human eye can’t see it. It’s “like a hole, like there’s nothing there,” according to Ben Jensen , the company’s chief technical officer. Called Vantablack, the material is composed of a lattice of carbon nanotubes that absorbs 99.96% of all incident radiation. Unlike previous carbon nanotube materials, Vantablack can be applied at low temperatures and adheres well to both flat and three-dimensional surfaces. Hence it could be used in space telescopes and other sensitive instrumentation to reduce stray light and improve their ability to detect faint objects in the universe. The company plans to present the new material this week at the Farnborough International Airshow , a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defense industries.
