Carbon Nanotube Based Black Coatings

Basics

• These are light absorbing coatings used for anything from art, to solar thermal collectors, to stealth aircraft
• They tend to be more fragile than pigments and paints
• They tend to use a "forest" of Carbon Nanotubes Grown using Chemical Vapor Deposition

Varieties

Super Black

• This was one of the first
• Made by NPL
• absorbs 99.6% of visible light at a 90 degree angle and up to 99% at an angle

Vantablack

• One of the first commercial options, VERY copyright strict (Even had art use liscensed to only ONE studio)
• Absorbs 99.965% of visible light

Black 2.0/3.0

• In response to vantablack's art liscencing strictness, this company formed to supply the art community
• Currently they have Black 3.0 which absorbs up to 99% of visible light, and goes for 21.99 USD for 150 ml or 146.60 USD/L

MIT Lab + Applied Science Replication

• MIT Paper
• Attempted Replication by the Youtube Channel "Applied Science"

See Also

• Open Source Ink
• Chart of The Light Absorbtion of Various Materials and Coatings