There are many different shades of black that can be achieved through both natural and artificial means. The darkest natural black comes from minerals, oils, carbon particles, and materials that inherently absorb most visible light. Coal, oil, galena crystal, black marble, and carbon black are some examples of naturally occurring black substances. Artificial black materials like paints, plastics, and coatings use a combination of pigments and dyes to absorb light and create deep, rich black tones. Factors like purity, density, surface smoothness, and light conditions determine how “black” a material appears. But which are the true blackest shades across nature and man-made substances?
The Darkest Natural Black Shades
Some of the blackest naturally occurring materials on Earth include:
| Material | What Makes it Super Black |
|---|---|
| Vantablack | Made of tightly-packed vertical carbon nanotube arrays that absorb over 99% of visible light. |
| Black 2.0 paint | Uses carbon nanotubes and only reflects 0.04% of light. |
| Superblack feathered bird of paradise | Microscopic light-trapping barbule structures on feathers absorb over 99% of light. |
The blackest natural substance found is a material called Vantablack. This substance is composed of vertically-aligned carbon nanotube arrays and reflects almost no light, absorbing 99.965% of radiation in the visible spectrum. For comparison, the next darkest natural substance known is a bird called the superblack feathered bird of paradise, whose black feathers absorb over 99% of light. But even this doesn’t come close to the complete blackness of Vantablack.
Vantablack’s Nanotech Secret
So what makes Vantablack the blackest natural substance? Its ultra-black properties come from the microscopic structure of the material. Vantablack is made up of a forest of carbon nanotubes grown on a substrate, with each nanotube measuring around 14–50 nanometers wide. This creates a dense nanotube forest with an extremely high ratio of surface area to volume. When light enters this nanotube matrix, it becomes trapped and bounces around until it is absorbed and converted to heat. Almost no light can escape, creating a deeply light-absorbing “black hole” effect.
Man-Made Super Black Materials
While nature has created extremely black substances like Vantablack, scientists have also developed synthetic ultra-black materials in the lab. Here are some of the darkest black shades achieved through engineered carbon nanostructures and coatings:
| Material | Light Absorption % |
|---|---|
| Vantablack S-VIS | 99.8% |
| Singularity Black | 99.4% |
| Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation carbon nanotube coating | 99.4% |
The blackest lab-made material is called Vantablack S-VIS, absorbing up to 99.8% of visible light. This uses similar carbon nanotube technology as the original Vantablack. Other ultra-black materials like Singularity Black and Mitsubishi’s carbon nanotube coating achieve 99.4% absorption across visible wavelengths. While not quite as dark as Vantablack, these synthetic blacks are deeper shades than any natural material other than the nanotube forests themselves.
Measuring Blackness with the Absorptance Index
To quantify how black different shades are, scientists use a measurement called the absorptance index. This measures the fraction of light absorbed by a material across visible wavelengths from 400-750 nm. The higher the absorptance index, the blacker the material. Here are absorptance indices for some of the blackest materials known:
| Material | Absorptance Index |
|---|---|
| Vantablack | 0.99995 |
| Vantablack S-VIS | 0.998 |
| Superblack feather | 0.99 |
| Black acrylic paint | 0.96 |
As you can see, Vantablack has the highest absorptance index at 0.99995, reflecting almost no light. In comparison, even the superblack bird feather only absorbs 99% of light for an index of 0.99. Everyday black paint absorbs much less light, with an index of only 0.96. So while Vantablack may look perfectly black to our eyes, sensitive measurements show it reflects the least light out of any known material.
Deepest Artificial Blacks from Carbon Nanotubes
The blackest shades of all rely on carbon nanotechnology to trap and absorb light. Lab-engineered carbon nanotube coatings and arrays create the darkest blacks by leveraging microscopic light-trapping structures.
So far, the deepest artificial blacks include:
– Vantablack – Made of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes absorbing 99.965% of light.
– Vantablack S-VIS – A sprayable paint using carbon nanotubes to achieve 99.8% absorption.
– Singularity Black – An artificial material made of randomly aligned carbon nanotubes absorbing 99.4% of visible light.
Microscopically, these materials are composed of tiny carbon tubes grown on a surface. Light cannot reflect or pass through this dense nanotube matrix, creating the deepest black imaginable. While some super-black substances occur naturally, carbon nanotech lets us engineer even darker shades.
Blackest Natural Materials
Outside of high-tech labs, nature has created ultra-black materials through various evolutionary adaptations. Here are some of the blackest natural substances and organisms found on Earth:
– Vantablack – Carbon nanotube material in some fungi which absorbs up to 99.965% of light.
– Superblack feathered bird of paradise – Birds with microscopic light-trapping structures on their feathers, absorbing over 99% of light.
– Black marble – A rock which appears very dark due to its pure, crystalline structure.
– Petroleum oil – Absorbs almost all colors of light, reflecting back deep blacks and browns.
– Coal – Formed over millions of years from decayed organic matter, coal is extremely non-reflective and black.
– Galena – A mineral and crystal form of lead ore which refracts almost no light, appearing jet black.
While remarkable, none of these biological or mineral blacks reflect less light than lab-engineered carbon nanotube coatings. But they demonstrate how nature can evolve super-black materials through various structural adaptations.
Different Shades of Black Pigment
For artificially colored materials and paints, carbon black is the most light-absorbing pigment used. But other black pigments include:
– Ivory black – Made by burning ivory or bones.
– Lamp black – Soot collected from burning oils and fats.
– Mars black – Composed of iron oxide.
– Vine black – Made by charring grape vines and stems.
– Bone black – Animal charcoal produced by charring bones.
Carbon black made from soot or charcoal produces the deepest color. But bone, ivory, mars, and vine black provide alternative shades ranging from brown-black to grayish hues. Pigment purity, binder chemistry, and substrate material affect the final painted blackness.
Deepest Black Achievable Pigments
For the blackest artificial pigments and paints, carbon-based materials are optimal. The darkest blacks achievable with current pigment technology include:
– Carbon black – Nearly pure elemental carbon, absorbing almost all visible light.
– Gas black – Fragments of impure carbon from incomplete gas combustion.
– Lamp black – Made by collecting soot from oil and fat combustion.
– Acetylene black – Formed by acetylene gas decomposition into pure carbon.
Pigment engineers are also developing ultra-black paints using carbon nanotubes, which can achieve over 99% absorption by mimicking the light-trapping nanostructure of materials like Vantablack. But for most applications, powdered carbon blacks produce the deepest and most light-absorbing shades of black.
Black Shades in Nature
Across the natural world, many animals, plants, and minerals exhibit shades of black due to microscopic structural adaptations or light-absorbing chemical compositions:
– Raven and crow feathers – Contain melanin granules that absorb light without reflectance.
– Black mamba skin – Scales contain black melanin which camouflages the snake.
– Coconut carbon – The hard shell charcoal absorbs light and repels water.
– Black orchid flowers – Adaptation to attract pollinators like flies and beetles.
– Obsidian volcanic glass – Formed by lava cooling rapidly, creating a non-reflective glassy texture.
– Onyx gemstone – Composed of silica in parallel bands creating dark shades.
– Crude oil – Complex mix of hydrocarbons which refract almost no visible light.
Black Materials in Manufacturing
For industrial applications, several synthetic black substances are widely used thanks to their light absorption, weather resistance, or manufacturing properties:
– Carbon black – Added to rubber, plastics, and inks to make them ultra-black while increasing product strength.
– Anodized aluminum – Electrochemically treated aluminum develops a non-reflective matte black surface finish.
– Obsidian – Naturally occurring volcanic glass used for black jewelry, art, and tools.
– Black 3D printer filaments – Filaments like nylon or PLA plastic infused with carbon powder for black printed parts.
– Black anodized titanium – Aerospace and medical-grade titanium treated with an electrochemical blackening process.
– Chemically blackened steel – Steel reacts with oxidizing salts to form non-reflective black iron oxide layers.
Man-made ultra-black coatings leveraging carbon nanotubes also have potential industrial uses for eliminating glare and reflection.
Deepest Natural Black Objects
Here are some of the blackest naturally occurring materials and organisms found in nature:
– Raven feathers – Contain specialized microstructures that trap light between barbs.
– Black mamba skin – Scales contain dense black melanin that absorbs over 99% of light.
– Vantablack fungi – Carbon nanotubes in their structure absorb up to 99.965% of light.
– Lakeside peat – Partially decayed organic matter that appears intensely black when wet.
– Obsidian volcanic rock – Formed from cooling lava with a glassy texture that absorbs light.
– Onyx gemstone – Banded black and white silica that refracts very little light.
– Crude oil – Complex hydrocarbons that let almost no visible light pass through.
– Coal – Formed over millions of years from buried plant matter, absorbing nearly all light.
While impressive, none of these biological or mineral blacks exceed lab-engineered carbon nanotube coatings, which remain the darkest shades achievable.
Conclusion
The blackest known shades are based on carbon nanotechnology and microscopic structures that trap all visible light. Coatings like Vantablack leverage dense carbon nanotube forests to absorb up to 99.965% of light, while structures on feathers of the superblack bird of paradise absorb over 99%. For manufactured colors, the purest carbon blacks, soots, and charcoals produce the deepest, richest black tones thanks to their non-reflective light-absorbing properties. But no synthetic pigments yet match the blackness of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays. This advanced nanotechnology lets us engineer some of the darkest materials ever produced.
