Vantablack

Vantablack (pronounced van-tah-blak)

A black material which absorbs 99.965% of light reaching its surface.

2014: Modern English construct, Vanta, an acronym for Vertically Aligned NanoTube Arrays + black.

Vantablack is built from clusters of vertical nanotubes on a substrate using a modified chemical vapour deposition process (CVD).  When light strikes Vantablack, instead of reflecting back and thus being visible, it becomes trapped, bouncing among the tubes until absorbed, dissipating into heat.  The densities are impressive for physical stuff; each square centimetre contains about a billion nanotubes.

Industrially, it’s an improvement over previous products because it can be created at 750°f (400°c) whereas an earlier substance, developed by NASA, demanded a 1380°f (750°c) environment.  However, in manufacturing, this is expensive and, Vantablack can be grown only on materials capable of enduring this temperature, further limiting commercial application.  Despite this Vantablack is a functional improvement which also offers better thermal stability and a greater resistance to mechanical vibration.  First developed in the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, trademark is held by Surrey NanoSystems.

The blackest known material ever in earthly existence, Vantablack is used to improve the performance of both ground and space-based cameras, improve heat-absorption in solar arrays and prevent stray light entering telescopes.  The military apply it to thermal camouflage because if used to coat 3D objects, they appear visually flat “black holes” without any shape or depth.

Potential LVBD customer.  Lindsay Lohan and the quest for the perfect LBD.