Image/Surrey NanoSystems
Vantablack is the new black
Vantablack is, to date, the darkest material ever made by humans. It absorbs more than 99.965% of light projected onto it, causing 3D objects coated in Vantablack to appear as silhouettes. Vantablack is made up of carbon nanotubes that are grown on aluminum surfaces鈥攖he 鈥淰anta鈥� in its name stands for 鈥淰ertically Aligned NanoTube Arrays鈥�. Each square centimetre of Vantablack contains about a billion nanotubes. These nanotubes continually deflect light that is projected onto them, essentially 鈥渢rapping鈥� light within the material. Light goes in, but can鈥檛 get back out.
Surrey NanoSystems, based in East Sussex, England, originally developed Vantablack for scientific use and on spacecraft and aircraft. Its most common application thus far is on telescopes to reduce stray light interference. However, Vantablack also has a number of potential applications outside of these industries. It has applications in consumer electronics (especially smart phones and touch screens) and clothing and textiles, and also has number of artistic, architectural, and creative applications to be explored.
The feud-iest feud over the blackest black
Vantablack is so in-demand with creatives that it鈥檚 currently the subject of a contemporary art feud. British artist Anish Kapoor, whose art explores void forms and negative space, bought exclusive artistic rights to Vantablack in 2016 and has recently begun to incorporate it into his work. This has angered many other artists who feel that Vantablack鈥檚 artistic potential should be available to all. One artist, Stuart Semple, even created what he calls 鈥渢he World鈥檚 Pinkest Pink鈥� and 鈥渢he Most Glittery Glitter鈥� in retaliation and banned Kapoor from using the pigments, purchasing them, or having them purchased on his behalf. In December 2016, Kapoor posted a picture of his middle finger dipped in the Pinkest Pink on his Instagram page, further igniting the artists鈥� feud. Semple, in response, posted a video of two fingers coated in what he claimed to be Vantablack.
However, unless Semple subjected his hand to temperatures of at least 100 degrees Celsius during the application process, the black in the video was not Vantablack. Vantablack doesn鈥檛 come as a pigment like Semple鈥檚 Pinkest Pink, and you can鈥檛 buy it by the gallon. The original Vantablack must be applied meticulously in a laboratory setting via a chemical vapor deposition process. While Surrey NanoSystems also offers a spray-on version that is slightly less black than the original (it absorbs 99.8% of light), it too requires intense heat during the application process in order to properly adhere to a surface.
With this in mind, it might not be as easy to 鈥渟hare the black鈥濃�攁s the social media hashtag demanding that Anish Kapoor release Vantablack says鈥攁s many would like, but it will be undeniably interesting to see how the darkest material鈥檚 possibilities in art are explored in the future and what other feuds it may inspire.
Men in Vantablack?
At present, Vantablack isn鈥檛 considered suitable for applications that involve Vantablack-to-skin contact due to the delicate microstructure of the nanotubes, the complexity involved in its application, and, of course, the heat required to apply it. However, while a little Vantablack dress might not be an immediate possibility, clothing made from Vantablack isn鈥檛 too far off. Surrey NanoSystems has said that they are working with fabric to find a way to apply Vantablack without compromising its physical properties or irritating the skin of its wearer. This may involve adding a protective layer over the adhered Vantablack entirely, protecting its structure. While the Internet has long speculated over Vantablack ninja suits, more practical applications for the material are in soldiers鈥� uniforms, where it would make troops virtually invisible in nighttime operations and much harder to detect during the day. When Vantablack eventually finds its way into everyday clothing, it will offer the fashion industry and consumers an entirely new dimension to explore.
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