VANTABLACK

Take a look at the image above. On the bronze bust the features are obvious: the bulbous nose and wispy moustache, expansive forehead and sagging skin. With a sharp eye you may even be able to recognise the face of the presenter Marty Jopson. In comparison the other object is hard to distinguish as a bust, let alone as an identical one. The magic is Vantablack; created by Surry Nanosystems in the UK. Sounding like a Marvel character, the acronym stands for Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Arrays-black and absorbs up to 99.965% of visible light. The demand for a super black material has always been present for space exploration. Applied behind the sensor of a telescope it reduces light pollution from the sun, enabling greater clarity for observation of stars. For decades, NASA along with countless other companies around the world have attempted to create such a material with varying success rates. In 2011, NASA developed a material which absorbed 99.5% of light. However, the object being coated would have to be exposed to around 750C; with pretty much only diamond being able to withstand this temperature, the material was seen as not economically viable for telescopes. So, how was Ben Jenson, who left school at 16, able to create Vantablack in only two-and-a-half-years?

A DROPOUT WHO BLEW HIMSELF UP BEATS NASA

So I looked around and thought, right, what's the next big technology that we can do now but no one else can?" That is Ben Jenson’s philosophy. An unconventional scientist and pure opportunist. (I’ll start off when he was 16 to provide a little background, we’ll get back to the science soon I promise.) Unable to afford further education, Ben Jensen chose to devote his later teenage years to building rockets. However, after accidentally blowing himself up; he took on a new lease of life. He spent the next years backpacking around the world and teaching himself science by reading books, for example Rocket Propulsion Elements by George P Sutton, figuring out the equations for himself. In his early twenties he invented a way to miniaturise oxygen plants for use in field hospitals. Unfortunately, his investor died before it was certified. For the next few years, he worked in a metal shop making reactor parts before designing and building his own plasma reactors by teaching himself chemistry and biology. Albeit the markets fell out of the reactor industry and he found nanotechnology. After two-and-a-half years of working at the University of Surrey he created Vantablack! Still don’t believe that the black hole isn’t photoshopped? Keep reading.

not a colour?

Colours are perceived due to the absorption and reflection of different wave lengths stimulating different reflectors in our eyes known as rods. Therefore, black and white are not colours but the complete absorption or complete reflection of light rays. Vantablack absorbs 99.96% of light rays meaning that it appears so dark. Further, Vantablack is a material made up of hollow carbon tubes. Each tube has a diameter of a single atom, 10,000 times thinner than a human hair. In a square of 1cm by 1cm, there are at least a billion of them. When photons of light enter this “forest” they are absorbed by the space around the tubes and converted into heat energy. Due to the height of the tubes in comparison to their diameter and the space around them, light rays are unable to escape. The effect is the lack of reflection can make a three-dimensional object look two-dimensional. However the few photons which hit the rim of the tubes, account for the 0.04% of light which is reflected. Therefore, even Vantablack cannot absorb 100% of light.

applications in hollywood and skyscrapers

Just as Vantablack is used in telescopes to focus on light from stars and reduce light pollution from the sun, it can similarly be used in the military. Infrared heat seeking sensors on a battleship are coated with Vantablack to detect heat from missiles more easily by reducing heat detection from the sun.

In Hollywood, Vantablack can be used as an alternative to green screens for CGI, the reduction of light reflection means that the camera will not pick up a background. This would reduce the frame-by-frame tidying and potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Equally unexpected are the possible applications in skyscrapers. The heat absorption qualities of Vantablack would prevent heat rising through floors. The hypnotizing appearance of the material also attracts luxury watch designers, artists, car manufacturers and even smartphone makers, proving that Vantablack is a versatile, cutting-edge and revolutionary material.