Scientists have created the 'blackest material ever made' which absorbs 99.96 per cent of light and is ten times blacker than anything made before.
Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) covered a £1.6million diamond with the substance in a bid to prove its blackness.
The hi-tech, 'cloak-like' material was made from carbon nanotubes (CNT) and grown on aluminium foil, absorbing 99.96 per cent of light - making it the blackest material ever made.
The scientists are unsure of the mechanics which cause the material to be so dark, but believe it is due to the pairing of carbon nanotubes and chlorine-etched aluminium.
The nanotubes, when assembled into a vertical 'forest', can transform almost all light into heat, according to some scientists.
Professor Brian Wardle said: 'CNT forests of different varieties are known to be extremely black, but there is a lack of mechanistic understanding as to why this material is the blackest. That needs further study.'
Professor Wardle of MIT, who led the research, worked with the university's artist-in-residence Diemut Strebe and former MIT postdoc Kehang Cui to cloak a 16.78-carat natural yellow diamond in the new ultrablack CNT material.
It worked to stunning effect, leaving the normally bright gem as a flat, black void.
But the artistic experiment may have practical uses too, giving space telescopes a material for optical blinders to reduce unwanted glare.
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It is even darker than vantablack, which was previously thought to be the blackest material in the world.
Professor Wardle said: 'There are optical and space science applications for very black materials, and of course, artists have been interested in black, going back well before the Renaissance.'
He added: 'Our material is 10 times blacker than anything that's ever been reported, but I think the blackest black is a constantly moving target.
'Someone will find a blacker material, and eventually we'll understand all the underlying mechanisms, and will be able to properly engineer the ultimate black.'
The findings have been published in the ACS-Applied Materials and Interfaces today.
They are also showcasing the cloak-like material as part of a new exhibit at the New York Stock Exchange, titled 'The Redemption of Vanity'.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
