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VANTABLACK MATERIAL- the definition of DARKNESS. It is one of the only material that has the ability to absorb 99.965% of the infrared, ultraviolet, and visible region of light. The vantablack is material developed by Surrey NanoSystems, in the United Kingdom at a length of 663 nm given that the light falls perpendicular to the material and the material is formed at 400-degree Celsius of temperature.
The acronym “VANTA” in Vantablack stands for Vertically Aligned Nanotube Arrays, having the color BLACK. Some other names of vantablack include MWCNT (Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube), Vantablack S-IR, and Vantablack-VIS.
When the light falls on or strikes Vatnablack, in place of bouncing back as it does on other materials, the light gets absorbed. This extreme black coating of the substance holds the Guinness world record as one of the darkest man-made substances. Vantablack has also been described as the closest thing or color to the BLACK HOLE. The vantablack material itself is SOO DARK that the human eye cannot figure out its dimensions.
This immense vantablack material’s dark color is due to tiny carbon nanotubes that are roughly 3500 times smaller than a human hair (unimaginable, indeed). When the light hits these tubes, it completely gets absorbed being inescapable. These nanotubes are grown in the sewing nanosystems lab using a patented process.
when other black surfaces are placed close to Vantablack, they appear to be grey-colored objects or materials, how much ever dark their color is. Vantablack material is designed to reduce unwanted stray light and is highly acceptable and desirable in space applications. It can be used in various other applications too like high-performance infrared cameras, sensors, scientific instruments, satellites, calibration processes, etc. vantablack material also works magic to provide a high aesthetic effect in luxury materials like watches, cars, etc.
Is there Material Darker than Vantablack material?
Vantablack material Is definitely and undoubtedly one of the darkest material as you know it has been compared to the enormous and dark black hole, but researchers and engineers from the prestigious MIT have successfully created another dark black material that is reported to be 10 times darker than the definition of darkness or Vantablack material.
This material has the blackest coating is obtained from other carbon monotubes which are 10 times more black. The coating of this particular material is from carbon nanotubes or CNT has grown on aluminum foil that is chlorine etched. Now you might be thinking how much light does it absorb? This material absorbs 99.995% of visible light.
This material is named “THE BLACK 3.0”. This clearly states our Vantablack material is NO LONGER THE DARKEST MATERIAL KNOWN. The black 3.0 is also termed as “blacker than black”.
Is Vantabllack Illegal?
The unique vantablack material is solely produced by the British company and patented. It cannot be used in street as per norms. Note that vantablack material is not built for painting purposes. It was originally developed for military technologies.
Though the vantablack material is commercially unavailable, it has multiple applications in different fields like arts and science. Therefore Surrey NanoSystems has licensed the product.
Does Vantablack Absorb Radar and Heat?
It is important to note that vantablack material has absorptions ranging from 600nm to 16um. Which depicts that the best absorption lies around 750nm, whereas the radar signals depict and emit signals between 29.5 to 37.4cm. The range of absorption and emotion of both differs to a greater extent. These are too large to be affected by Vantablack’s nanoscale properties.
Talking about the heat, the material diffuses heat through it very quickly and has a great heat conductivity. The melting point of vantablack material is more than 3’000 degrees celsius or 5’430 degrees Fahrenheit.
Decorative And Artistic Applications of Vantablack Material
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- Vantablack material S-VIS spray paint has been licensed exclusively by Anish Kapoor for his art studio.
- Vantablack has also been booked as singularity black material by a Waltham manufacturer company.
- BMW in the year 2019 unveiled a concept of X6 at the Frankfurt Auto Show, although the company has still not given clarity on usage.
- Swiss luxury watch company has used this material to produce and design luxurious and highly attractive watches for premium customers.
- Vantablack material was also used as “Vantablack Pavilion” in the winter Olympics held in 2018.
The material is not only luxurious in appearance, but it is also the second darkest black material known to date. Researchers are still working on similarities between the color of vantablack material and the black hole. It is extremely interesting to note that black 3.0 has defeated vantablack in terms of darkness. But black 3.0 is also 99.995% effective in terms of absorption, there are still possibilities of production of 100% visible light absorption material.
