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BLACK MAGIC Military Material to Optical Machines, As Well As Luxury Items Such As Can Stare into the void that is Vantablack: ry to imagine something so black that it sucks up light. Surprisingly, Vantablack isn’t the creation of NASA, CERN or some other a nanoparticle coating that could soon be T Sounds like science fiction, doesn’t it? It’s not. It’s Vantablack, large international scientific research centre or company. It was, in fact, the world’s darkest man-made substance, which absorbs more developed by a small British company called Surrey NanoSystems, and is coming to a satellite or art gallery near you... than 99.6 per cent of radiation in the visible spectrum. Basically, it’s the produced on an industrial park in Newhaven, East Sussex. ‘We’re doing closest thing you’ll find on Earth to a black hole. some really exciting work here,’ explains Ben Jensen, the company’s The coating was originally developed for use on satellites, but since its founder and chief technical officer, showing us around the facility. ‘With launch in 2014 it has been applied to a wide range of products, from barely 20 full-time staff, we are achieving results nobody else in the world BLACK MAGIC military material to optical machines, as well as luxury items such as can. It’s been a whirlwind few years but we’re not resting on our laurels watches and cars. In April, a spray version was released, and will be used yet. We’re continually trying to push the limits of possibility.’ for projects by Turner Prize-winning artist Anish Kapoor, who is famous The company has a long list of projects still under embargo. For Jensen WRITER John Silcox PHOTOGRAPHER Christoffer Rudquist for working on void-like sculptures, paintings and installations. and his team, the future looks black. For once, this is good news. 066 Audi Magazine 067 A FOREST OF NANOTUBES WHAT A GREAT REACTION MATERIALS CAN SPRAY ALL DAY, ANY DAY The secret behind Vantablack’s ‘Vantablack is applied in a TAKE THE HEAT Vantablack S-VIS is a sprayable similar way to conventional light-absorption properties Nanotube coatings have version, so it can be applied thin-films,’ says Ben. ‘But lies in nanotechnology. The been around for a few years, under controlled conditions in unless you’re a scientist that super-black material is in and other researchers in air (within an enclosed and won’t mean anything to you. fact composed of billions of this field have managed to filtered spray booth). To the Essentially this means that nanotubes, which are tall create similar substances to left, a scientist is building up to apply something that’s tubular structures made up Vantablack on a small scale. the coating over a number incredibly thin you need to use of carbon atoms. ‘An easy way However, the real breakthrough of passes until the correct special reactors, and ours are of thinking about Vantablack at Surrey NanoSystems was thickness has been achieved. the best-performing in the is to think of a forest,’ says that the team were able to The applied coating then field.’ The process used company founder Ben Jensen. work at low temperatures. passes through a number is called chemical vapour ‘It is a forest where the trees ‘Originally the problem with of chemical functionalisation deposition (CVD) and this are of normal height but the creating nanotubes was the steps to bind it together and is how it works: you seed a width of a blade of grass, all fact that you must heat the change its density. Above, material in a chemical catalyst, closely packed together. Light material you are using to a scientist shuts the door on which is almost like miniscule rays penetrate the surface but a very high temperature,’ a special reactor which cooks grass seed, then heat it up get trapped in between the explains Ben. ‘At NASA they the coated material from inside the reactors. Then you black trees, and never bounce have had some success but 100C to 300C. activate the catalyst with back out, which gives it such they can’t achieve anything carbon, which will make it a black aspect.’ under 700C. At that type push out carbon nanotubes. of heat, most metals and Above, a scientist places plastics will be destroyed.’ a material into the CVD Vantablack, on the other reactor. On the right is an hand, can be applied at inside look at one of the temperatures as low as reactor chambers. 450C, and 100C for the spray version. This means it works with silicon microchips, quartz, copper and aluminium. 066 Audi Magazine 067.
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