The darker the material, the more light it absorbs thus increasing the efficiency of solar panels.
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The new material absorbs 99 per cent of light, at all angles, making it 26 per cent darker than carbon nanotubes, which are the darkest material before known.
The idea initially came from a beetle known as cyphochilus – which is all white.
While it’s a neat achievement, the team behind it also points out that the blackest of materials can in theory be put to great use in harvesting light for solar energy collectors or be used to create ultra-efficient optical connections. The sphere measures 30 nanometer (nm) in diameter.
Scientists have created the blackest material ever made, so dark that it can absorb nearly all light that hits it. The result is an uneven surface composed of a pattern of random pits with infinitely long metallic waveguides.
Those who have seen dark materials have said about the new creation being “strange” and “alien” because it is so dark that eyes can not comprehend it. Researchers at the King Abdulla University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia said that they used nanoparticles to be at new levels of darkness. The researchers also claim it could also lead to breakthroughs in fibre optic technology and, as it can be applied to liquid, could help desalination projects.
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The researchers hope to create a material which, ‘absorbs radiation and at all angles and polarisations’. It goes to show that despite scientific advantages, there is always light even in the darkest places.
