Industry Insights

Carbon Nanotubes Make the Darkest Material on Earth

Will Mercer
May 23, 2025
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Surrey Nano

Systems developed Vantablack® — the world's darkest man-made substance, absorbing 99.65% of natural light.

The Vantablack coating uses carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that form a coral-like structure full of variably-sized cavities that trap photons across the full spectrum from UV through to infrared.

Testing with ABB and the Canadian Space Agency showed Vantablack decreased photon leakage by 5 orders of magnitude at cryogenic temperatures, and reduced the design complexity and weight of space instrumentation modules.