What's darker than black?

[Rev.Reverence]

U.S. researchers said on Tuesday they have made the darkest material on Earth, a substance so black it absorbs more than 99.9 percent of light.

Made from tiny tubes of carbon standing on end, this material is almost 30 times darker than a carbon substance used by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology as the current benchmark of blackness.

And the material is close to the long-sought ideal black, which could absorb all colors of light and reflect none.

"All the light that goes in is basically absorbed," Pulickel Ajayan, who led the research team at Rice University in Houston, said in a telephone interview. "It is almost pushing the limit of how much light can be absorbed into one material."

The substance has a total reflective index of 0.045 percent -- which is more than three times darker than the nickel-phosphorous alloy that now holds the record as the world's darkest material.

Basic black paint, by comparison, has a reflective index of 5 percent to 10 percent.

The researchers are seeking a world's darkest material designation by Guinness World Records. But their work will likely yield more than just bragging rights.

Ajayan said the material could be used in solar energy conversion. "You could think of a material that basically collects all the light that falls into it," he said.

It could also could be used in infrared detection or astronomical observation.

THREE-FOLD BLACKNESS

Ajayan, who worked with a team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, said the material gets its blackness from three things.

It is composed of carbon nano-tubes, tiny tubes of tightly rolled carbon that are 400 hundred times smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair. The carbon helps absorb some of the light.

These tubes are standing on end, much like a patch of grass. This arrangement traps light in the tiny gaps between the "blades."

The researchers have also made the surface of this carbon nano-tube carpet irregular and rough to cut down on reflectivity.

"Such a nano-tube array not only reflects light weakly, but also absorbs light strongly," said Shawn-Yu Lin, a professor of physics at Rensselaer, who helped make the substance.

The researchers have tested the material on visible light only. Now they want to see how it fares against infrared and ultraviolet light, and other wavelengths such as radiation used in communications systems.

"If you could make materials that would block these radiations, it could have serious applications for stealth and defense," Ajayan said.

The work was released online last week and will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Nano Letters. The Indian-born Ajayan holds the 2006 Guinness World Record as co-inventor of the smallest brush in the world.

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews...0080115?sp=true

[Oh_My_Goth]

Holy shit

You may have just answered the question of "what is 'goth'??"

[Rev.Reverence]

Holy shit

You may have just answered the question of "what is 'goth'??"

I found it whilst lurking at one of those lil' sites that are in the lil' banner...I was in fact looking for something goth.

I am SO cool to me sometimes...

[Oh_My_Goth]

I found it whilst lurking at one of those lil' sites that are in the lil' banner...I was in fact looking for something goth.

I am SO cool to me sometimes...

[phee]

Holy shit

You may have just answered the question of "what is 'goth'??"

But goth is also pale.....

[Scary Guy]

Wow, again? I remember the last time they did that. http://www.time.com/time/2003/inventions/invblack.html

[Rev.Reverence]

Wow, again? I remember the last time they did that. http://www.time.com/time/2003/inventions/invblack.html

^^that = nickel-phosphorus compound called NPL Super Black that absorbs 99.65% of visible light

NEW STUFF = The substance has a total reflective index of 0.045 percent -- which is more than three times darker than the nickel-phosphorous alloy that now holds the record as the world's darkest material.

It is like TOTALLY darker than dark!

YAY FOR FORWARD!

[Simon Bar Sinister]

none more dark!

[Slogo]

Nathan Explosion ~ "Blacker than the blackest black times infinite"

[pomba gira]

Groooooovy... Fuligin-ite!

[Nightgaunt]

Brings to mind this excerpt from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams...

"That," he said, "that...is really bad for the eyes..."

Ford looked. He too stood astonished.

It was a ship of classic, simple design, like a flattened salmon, twenty yards long, very clean, very sleek. There was just one remarkable thing about it.

"It's so...black!" said Ford Prefect. "You can hardly make out its shape...light just seems to fall into it!"

Zaphod said nothing. He had simply fallen in love.

The blackness of it was so extreme that it was almost impossible to tell how close you were standing to it.

"Your eyes just slide off it..." said Ford in wonder. It was an emotional moment. He bit his lip.

Zaphod moved forward to it, slowly, like a man possessed - or more accurately like a man who wanted to possess. His hand reached out to stroke it. His hand stopped. His hand reached out to stroke it again. His hand stopped again.

"Come and feel this surface," he said in a hushed voice.

Ford put his hand out to feel it. His hand stopped.

"You...you can't..." he said.

"See?" said Zaphod. "It's just totally frictionless. This must be one mother of a mover..."

[Head Wreck]

this is a huge step forward.

what if that coating traps radar sucessfully. you've just improved radar stealth.

IR is pretty close to visible light

[Scary Guy]

this is a huge step forward.

what if that coating traps radar sucessfully. you've just improved radar stealth.

IR is pretty close to visible light

Any more and we'll have invented our own black hole :D

Now we just need to make some laundry detergent out of that stuff.

[Simon Bar Sinister]

...or this

[Rev.Reverence]

...oh my god......it's full of stars...

[taysteewonderbunny]

Aw! This is by far the thread that most inspired joy in me today. Thank you, from the bottom of my merely grey heart.

[Rev.Reverence]

Aw! This is by far the thread that most inspired joy in me today. Thank you, from the bottom of my merely grey heart.

...just one of those things you gotta' share ...& I was low on me quota of "the news"......

.....I still want a piece of the material...wonder when it goes on sale...

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

I'm in love. Now, if they could apply that like body paint... cameras would have some interesting issues.

I wonder how hot it gets. I'm pretty damn sure if you bring light to a complete stop it's going to transfer some energy.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

and if it does get hot... you would have to touch it to know.

[Scary Guy]

I wonder how hot it gets. I'm pretty damn sure if you bring light to a complete stop it's going to transfer some energy.

I'd then like to know the applications of such a material on solar panels.

[Homicidalheathen]

benchmark of blackness oh yes

[Rev.Reverence]

and if it does get hot... you would have to touch it to know.

I hope not to hot..I want a jacket...

I'd then like to know the applications of such a material on solar panels.

I was thinkin' about that. That it may make it a more viable energy source.

(Not to say it has no viability currently.)