Super black

In this article, we are going to delve deeper into Super black and understand its importance in today's society. Super black has been a topic of great interest and debate in recent times, and it is essential to understand its impact on various aspects of daily life. From its influence on health and well-being, to its role in economics and politics, Super black plays a crucial role in the way we live and interact with the world around us. Through detailed analysis, we will explore the different facets of Super black and examine how it has evolved over time, as well as its possible implications for the future. This article seeks to shed light on Super black and provide a broader view of its relevance in modern society.

Super black is a surface treatment developed at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom. It absorbs approximately 99.6% of visible light at normal incidence, while conventional black paint absorbs about 97.5%. At other angles of incidence, super black is even more effective: at an angle of 45°, it absorbs 99.9% of light.

Technology

The technology to create super black involves chemically etching a nickel-phosphorus alloy.[1][2]

Applications of super black are in specialist optical instruments for reducing unwanted reflections. The disadvantage of this material is its low optical thickness, as it is a surface treatment. As a result, infrared light of a wavelength longer than a few micrometers penetrates through the dark layer and has much higher reflectivity. The reported spectral dependence increases from about 1% at 3 μm to 50% at 20 μm.[3]

In 2009, a competitor to the super black material, Vantablack, was developed based on carbon nanotubes. It has a relatively flat reflectance in a wide spectral range.[4]

In 2011, NASA and the US Army began funding research in the use of nanotube-based super black coatings in sensitive optics.[5] Nanotube-based superblack arrays and coatings have recently become commercially available.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mini craters key to 'blackest ever black'". Newscientist.com. 6 February 2003. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  2. ^ "Highly Absorbing Surfaces for Radiometry". January 2003. Archived from the original on 2005-06-27.
  3. ^ Brown, Richard J. C.; Brewer, Paul J.; Milton, Martin J. T. (2002). "The physical and chemical properties of electroless nickel – phosphorus alloys and low reflectance nickel – phosphorus black surfaces". Journal of Materials Chemistry. 12 (9): 2749. doi:10.1039/b204483h.
  4. ^ "NASA Develops Super-Black Material That Absorbs Light Across Multiple Wavelength Bands". Nasa.gov. 2011-11-08. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  5. ^ Nanostructured Super-Black Optical Materials 10/23/2013 Archived March 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Aligned Carbon Nanotube Arrays and Forests on Substrates". Nano-lab.com. Retrieved 2015-07-14.