"Scientists have created the blackest fabric yet - and it could be adorning your evening wear in a few years. Like an eternal black hole, the fabric absorbs 99.87 per cent of light while reflecting the remaining 0.13 per cent. That makes it officially 'ultra-black' - defined as reflecting less than 0.5 per cent of the light that hits it - or as Spinal Tap might put it, 'none more black'."
"To make the ultra-black fabric, the team dyed a white merino wool knit with polydopamine, a synthetic compound that can be used as a dark dye. The researchers had to have the polydopamine penetrate into the fibres of the fabric, so every bit of it became black. Next, the team etched the material in a plasma chamber to create nanofibrils - extremely small and spiky nanoscale growths."
"Analysis revealed that the fabric had an average total reflectance of 0.13 per cent, making it the darkest fabric yet reported. It remained 'ultra-black' across a 120-degree angular span, meaning it appears the same at up to a 60-degree angle either side or straight on, superior to currently available commercial materials."
An ultra-black, wearable fabric absorbs 99.87% of incident light and reflects 0.13%, qualifying as 'ultra-black' (<0.5% reflectance). A white merino wool knit was dyed with polydopamine to darken fibres, then plasma-etched to create nanofibrils that trap light. The material remains ultra-black across a 120-degree angular span, appearing consistently from up to 60 degrees either side. The fabric is scalable, wearable, easy to manufacture, and patent-pending. Potential applications include camera and telescope coatings, solar thermal conversion, thermo-regulating camouflage, and other optically demanding technologies. The fabric is less absorptive than MIT's 2019 carbon-nanotube foil (≥99.995%).
Read at Mail Online
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