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New material absorbs 99.96% of light, Guinness World Record darkest substance.






Space telescopes, art, various optic devices, beam guides, various science stuff... I watch this project of Vantablack long time. There are still improvements and more is being done. I imagine how I would use it and there would be a lot of ideas to use it in my artworks. Interesting thing is if you paint some 3D shape with it, you loose the depth reference (almost no light reflected) and it appears like 2D object.
 
I remember this also. A coating for an LPM sensor was my first thought. it wouldn't work to draw heat away from an object, just absorbs light.
 
I'm not sure on how well this material would handle high optical densities. It obviously absorbs light very well, but how is the thermal conductivity?

Practical applications will problably be military as camouflage for night time operations.

These very black materials can be used for fun as well. Vantablack may be the record holder, but there have been some pretty black materials around before. On funny thing to do with them is paint a circle about 10 cm diameter onto a white wall, convincing people there is a hole in that wall.

This works pretty well, at least until people start poking it and leaving visible fingerprintes on it ruining the illusion.
 
Except for probably being toxic, some of this stuff in a very fine powder dispersed into the air would sure cut down on the visible beam from a laser in a room, wouldn't it.
 
I want a suit of that stuff, Or imagine how much better a ninja would be with a outfit made out of that stuff !!!

 
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Too bad vantablack is extremely expensive--ounce for ounce more than diamond or gold in addition to not being available for private individual purchase.

From Surrey Nanosystems web site:
"In order to comply with UK export control regulations we are required to verify the identity and credentials of potential clients and the nature of their proposed use of Vantablack. If you wish to purchase Vantablack coatings, the following applies:
Only verified companies, research facilities and educational establishments can order a sample of Vantablack. The coating is not available to private individuals at this time and we can’t accept orders from private email addresses. Under current UK Government legislation Vantablack and Vantablack S-VIS require an export licence for generic samples as they have no specific end use function."

The newest spray version is interesting see: https://www.surreynanosystems.com/vantablack-s-vis
 
Seems that if this substance can be deposited onto a calorimeter such that it can be isolated from other depositions from outside sources; ie: dust, oils, etc., it could be used as a coating for the measurement of light energy and powers. I guess time will tell if this is the case as it becomes available to everyone and the price decreases as the novelty of it diminishes.
 
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