Carbon nanotube carpet darkest thing ever made

A loosely packed "carpet" of carbon nanotubes is the darkest material ever made, according to researchers from Rice University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The carpet consists of nanotubes--hollow, honeycombed tubes made from carbon atoms-- standing vertically. Instead of being tightly packed together, the researchers went for a low density arrangement, complete with spaces and gaps, sort of like a box of dried spaghetti. Light striking the nanotubes as well as the gaps gets absorbed. When light gets absorbed, black (the absence of light) results. The nanotubes were also specially manufactured to have a more random arrangement of atoms, further reducing reflectivity. (Again, think of trying to look into a box of spaghetti. Not easy.)

The nanocarpet is in the middle. Former record holder to the left.

(Credit: RPI)

This resulted in a material that reflects only 0.045 percent of the light that strikes it. (Put another way, 99.955 percent of the light that hits it gets absorbed.)

Conventional black paint reflects 100 times more light. The previous record holder for darkness, a nickel-phophorus alloy pitted with light-trapping craters, reflected four times as much light.

So what good is this? Will goths use it for Halloween costumes? The material could help in advancing solar cells, which trap sunlight and convert it to energy. It could also one day be used by astronomers.

Side shot of the nanocarpet

(Credit: RPI)

Chalk another one up for carbon nanotubes, the reigning celebrity in the advanced materials world. Many believe the tubes will be used to deliver medicine in humans, build bridges, and conduct electricity inside of semiconductors someday.

"It is a fascinating technology, and this discovery will allow us to increase the absorption efficiency of light as well as the overall radiation-to-electricity efficiency of solar energy conservation," said Rensselaer physicist Shawn-Yu Lin in a prepared statement. He's the lead co-author of the study. "The key to this discovery was finding how to create a long, extremely porous vertically-aligned carbon nanotube array with certain surface randomness, therefore minimizing reflection and maximizing absorption simultaneously."

[epitone]

Isn't there...

...a Spinal Tap album cover joke to be made here?

[aetherial]

It's like...how much more black could it be?

And the answer is none. None more black.

[xxwildchild]

Spinal Tap

If you weren't going to say it... i was

[aboration]

Application to radar

I would be interesting to see if they could develop a similar product to absorb
radar.

[JohnMcGrew]

Excellent uses in photography

One of the biggest problems in photography is stray light reflecting off of internal components within lenses and cameras. This would virtually eliminate that problem, resulting in more sensitive cameras.

[Shankland]

Great, until a nanofiber sticks to your sensor

Nonreflective black is good, but somebody will have to engineer something that's durable, too, before it's useful, I'd imagine.

[cyde01]

Any way you could use this material to make a TV?

imagine the contrast ratio.

[hlwdjsd]

need this in a fabric

My girlfriends and I often say we wear black, at least until they come up with something darker. Looks like our wishes have come true.

[mstaindl]

I like your blackf humour :)