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Vantablack: The World’s Darkest Material Created

Save the name: Vantablack, it’s darker than black and is considered as the world’s darkest material right now. Black is beautiful, probably like no other color is. It is discrete and dull, while it screams a wide range of messages, with its touch of mystery. So many people find themselves pulled to this color for all the different reasons. Now, black has been taken to a whole new level, to the amazement of black lovers. Scientists have engineered a material so black that it blocks out all light rays from being reflected. Black just got blacker.


Vantablack has been manufactured by Surrey Nanosystems, a British company specialised in nanoelectronics. Vantablack has necessitated the use of carbon nanotubes, each of which is 10 000 times thinner than the average human hair. Let that sink in: 10 000 times thinner than a human hair. The nano scale just got cooler: it has been exploited to blacken black even further. Wow!

These carbon tubes are so tiny that photons do not get inside; 99.965 % of visible light is absorbed by Vantablack. The photons are captured in the spaces between the tubes. Vantablack thus marks a new world record.

So dark it dazzles the human eye!

The object is so dark that it dazzles the human eye: one would not be able to figure what one is looking at. Vantablack is such that the shape of it cannot be discerned. It leaves a hazy impression. To get an idea of how it is, imagine the following. If someone were to wear an outfit made of Vantablack, you would probably just see his head and whatever other limbs not covered by the material. The rest would be like some dark abyss that you could not possibly figure out.

Vantablack, standing for Vertically Aligned carbon NanoTube Array, would be effective for many a use. For instance, it could be used for astronomical cameras and telescopes. Also, it could be the ideal military secret tool. But, the firm said nothing definite on the topic. Black is associated with mystery, right?


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