vantablack

British researchers at Surrey NanoSystems created an extremely black material out of woven strands of extremely thin carbon nanotubes (10,000 times thinner than human hair) on aluminium foil. Although Surrey NanoSystems has been tight-lipped about their methods, the material's name gives us clues: Vanta in Vantablack is an acronym for "vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays."

The carbon nanotubes are packed together into a dense forest. The nanotubes allow photons (light) in but stop them from bouncing back out. This is because carbon nanotubes are very effective in absorbing many forms of radiation.

Because light doesn't reflect off the Vantablack, we aren't able to see the texture of the material. In fact, the Vantablack is so black that we can only perceive it by seeing the space around it. Scientists described this experience as looking into the black hole.

Surrey NanoSystems is selling or planning to sell this material to military and aerospace sectors, where it could be used to make stealthcraft, stealth weapons, and more sensitive telescopes.