Sarah Bellum explains the light-blocking capabilities of Vantablack

By Sara Bellum On July 22, 2015 In Sara Bellum No Comments

Ask Sarah Anything!

This was a submission from Artie Gardner about absorbing all visible light. (Maybe he’s trying to plan some sort of invisibility cloak? We don’t know…) ANYWAY… Here’s what Sarah had to say about Vantablack.

Dear Sarah,

Is there a compound that absorbs all visible light?

Artie Gardner

VANTABLACK

Dear Artie,

Not 100 percent, but Vantablack comes close. It is made of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, which absorbs up to 99.965% of visible light that reaches it. Of course if what you were looking for was something that would become invisible, you would be disappointed. Substances that absorb the light that reaches them appear black, not transparent or invisible. This is especially useful when it is needed to reduce reflections on sensitive instruments.

Your Truly,
Sara Bellum

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Sara Bellum

Editor at Buzzy Multimedia Publishing

The name's Sara Bellum, and I'm the editor-at-large here at BuzzyMag - the hostess with the mostess, if you will. I like to think that my first calling is fighting crime and delivering a heaping dose of sweet, sweet justice to all manner of thugs, miscreants, hoodlums, ruffians, and ne'er-do-wells, but unfortunately, violent vigilantism doesn't exactly pay big bucks these days.

Times are tough, my friends, and I've got bills to pay, so I decided to put my encyclopedic knowledge of all things sci-fi & fantasy-related to use to help me land a day job. To tell you the truth, it's kind of a nice change of pace. My manicures have been lasting a bit longer lately.