Super black

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (July 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Super-black is a coating developed at the UK's National Physical Laboratory. It reflects 10 to 20 times less light than the darkest conventional black paints currently available. When light hits the surface at right angles approximately 99.6% is absorbed and only 0.4% is reflected: by contrast black paint reflects about 2.5% of the incident light. However, super-black is even more effective at absorbing light that hits it at an angle; if the light source is at an angle of 45°, super-black paint reflects 25 times less light than paint. The technique is based upon chemically etching a nickel-phosphorus alloy.

The most obvious applications are in optical instruments to reduce unwanted reflections. A less obvious application may be artistic. In an interview with the magazine New Scientist NPL said that several artists are keen to use the new material. "When you look at the black, it is an incredibly beautiful surface. It's like black velvet."