The NEW Blackest Material Ever

A brand new material is darker than the darkest depths of space. It can absorb at least 99. 995 percent of light beating the previous darkest material known as Vantablack.

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In the year 2014, a material known as Vantablack was created. And it was dark. Truly dark. Made from carbon nanotubes it absorbed 99.96 of light. But if you thought that nothing darker can ever come to the market you were wrong.

Engineers from MIT created a brand new material that is ten times darker than anything we saw before. But it is similar to Vantablack in a way. It is made from vertically oriented carbon nanotubes there were grown an a surface of an aluminum foil that was etched with chlorine. The final product is darker than even the most sinful, dark thoughts. It can absorb at least 99.9995 of incoming light.

Brian Wardle and his coworkers from MIT published their research in the journal ACS-Applied Materials. This probably sounds pretty standard to you. But what is less common is that this new material quickly became an art piece as the scientists worked with the LJ West Diamonds company acquiring a 16.78 carat yellow diamond (with a price of roughly 2 million U.S. dollars). Then they coated the diamond with the new material. People who got to see the art piece personally claim the impression is completely unique. The classical black diamond with many sides became a dark spot that seems like an eye into the emptiness of nothing.

As it often is in science, the scientists werent really trying to create a super-dark material. Originally they experimented with growing carbon nanotubes on electrically conductive materials such as aluminum. They just wanted to improve their electric and thermal properties. But with the aluminum foil, they encountered a problem. On the surface of aluminum that is exposed to air you can always find a layer of oxide. And this layer doesnt conduct electricity. Truthfully, it functions as an electric insulator. Wardle and his colleagues wanted to get rid of this unwanted layer so they etched the foil with a solution of sodium chloride (better known as salt). When they did that carbon nanotube grew on the foil even at low temperatures of around 100° Celsius.

Not only did the new material conduct electricity better than the foil itself but it was darker than the heart of darkness. And things started to happen. The combination of top research and art brought us an art piece that became part of the newly opened exposition at the New York Stock Exchange. And even its name is beautiful – The Redemption of Vanity.

Of course, the new material won't be used only for artistic purposes. It also has interesting and more practical applications. It could be a part of the surface of powerful optical devices such as advanced space telescopes that search for exoplanets.

Sources:

• https://www.the-redemption-of-vanity.com/public/pdf/press-release.pdf
• http://news.mit.edu/2019/blackest-black-material-cnt-0913
• https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.9b08290

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