Vantablack Darkest things Facts?
In the Antenna wing of the Science Museum in London, a bronze statue of a man sits behind a glass wall. His face, courtesy of BBC presenter Marty Jopson, isn't very big—maybe 6 or 7 inches tall. It's very textured, and catches the light in its rivets and dimples. Apart from the tip of Jopson's upturned mustache, there is nothing extraordinary about this statue. But next to him sits an identical statue that really boggles the mind. It seemed that someone had punched a hole in the air in the shape of Jopson's head, leaving only a gaping void of darkness. The texture of the face disappears into a velvety mass; only from the side it can be said that the bust has no dimensions at all.
This visual magic is the work of Vantablack the darkest material ever created by man. The terrifyingly named coating that absorbs nearly all light was created by British company Surrey NanoSystems to help eliminate stray light in satellites and telescopes. It has since garnered a rabid following of curious artists, designers and other creatives who are desperate to get their hands on the stuff. But despite its popularity, there is still a lot of confusion about what this mysterious ingredient actually is and how to use it. mental_floss recently spoke to Steve Northam of Surrey NanoSystems to find out about all things Vantablack; this is what we learned.
1. NOT ACTUALLY COLOR.
Let's talk technical for a moment. Color as we know it as humans is a result of the way light is reflected from an object and enters our eyes. Different frequencies of light are translated into different colors. Vantablack is not a color, but a material. It is made of a "forest" of tiny hollow carbon tubes, each one atom wide. According to the Surrey NanoSystems website, "the surface area [1 square centimeter] will contain approximately 1000 million nanotubes." When light hits the tube, it is absorbed and cannot escape—which means that in fact, Vantablack is colorless.
2. YOU CANNOT BUY IT.
Since it's not pigment or paint, you can't just buy a bucket and dip it in a brush and apply it to your walls. The nanotubes that make up Vantablack had to be grown in the Surrey NanoSystems lab using a complicated (and patented) process that involved several machines, several layers of different substances, and some extreme heat. From start to finish, applying Vantablack to an object can take up to two days, according to Northam. “I had a question yesterday asking how much it costs for a kilo of Vantablack pigment,” says Northam. "First of all, I can't sell you a bucket of Vantablack, but if I could, I don't think there would be much on this planet that would cost more." He says that, ounce for ounce, Vantablack is much more expensive than diamonds and gold.
3. IT DOESN'T FEEL AS IT LOOKED.
"One of the things people often say is 'Can I touch it?'" Northam says. "They expect it to feel like warm velvet." While Vantablack does have a soft, mellow look, Northam says it's by no means a physical sensation. When you touch Vantablack, it just feels like a smooth surface. That's because nanotubes are so small and thin, they simply collapse under the touch of a human. This is how Northam describes it: “Imagine you have a wheat field, and instead of wheat being 3 or 4 feet high, it's about 1000 feet high. That's the equivalent scale we're talking about for nanotubes. The reason they work is that they are very, very long compared to their diameter. It will stay upright and not be blown off by the wind, but if you then try and land a plane on it, you will make a dent.” So, Vantablack is quite susceptible to damage, which is why it can't be applied to unprotected surfaces like cars or high-end dresses yet — one swipe of the hand and the material will lose its magic.
4. ALMOST NO MASS.
Although Vantablack is sensitive to touch, it is very strong against other forces, such as shock and vibration. This is due to the fact that each carbon nanotube is individual, and has almost no mass at all. Plus, most of the ingredients are air. "If there is no mass, there is no force during acceleration," said Northam. This makes Vantablack ideal for protected objects that may have to endure bumpy journeys, such as space launches, for example.
5. MAY HAVE TOTAL USES OUTSIDE THE ORIGINAL APPLICATION.
This material was originally designed for super-technical fields, such as aerospace equipment, where its ability to limit stray light makes it ideal for the interior of telescopes. But it can be applied to more everyday objects if the conditions are right. Northam says Surrey NanoSystems has been approached by a handful of luxury watchmakers interested in incorporating Vantablack into their wrist candy, and high-end automakers want to use it in their dashboard displays for a visually stunning look. Northam says they also have several smartphone makers knocking on their doors.
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