Tag Archives: Ben Jensen

The world’s blackest coating material

Surrey NanoSystems (UK) is billing their Vantablack as the world’s blackest coating and they now have a new product in that line according to a March 10, 2016 company press release (received via email),

A whole range of products can now take advantage of Vantablack’s astonishing characteristics, thanks to the development of a new spray version of the world’s blackest coating material. The new substance, Vantablack S-VIS, is easily applied at large scale to virtually any surface, whilst still delivering the proven performance of Vantablack.

Vantablack’s nano-structure absorbs virtually all incident light, enabling the performance of precision optical systems to be optimized. The material’s developer, UK-based Surrey NanoSystems, has mimicked the performance of its original Vantablack with a new version that can be sprayed onto objects, rather than deposited using a chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process.

Vantablack S-VIS greatly widens the potential applications space, making it possible to coat larger complex shapes and structures. It is applied at temperatures that are easily withstood by common plastics, further extending its use. Even though the material is applied using a simple spraying process, it traps a massive 99.8% of incident light. This property gives Vantablack S-VIS its ability to make objects appear to be two-dimensional black holes, as it becomes impossible to make out surface topography.

The only other commercially-available material that is darker than the new S-VIS version is original Vantablack, which set a world record for absorption of light at a staggering 99.965%. Vantablack was originally developed for satellite-borne earth observation imaging and calibration systems, where it increases instrument sensitivity by improving absorption of stray ultraviolet, visible and infrared light. Since then, many other applications have emerged, including solar-energy collector elements, functional surfaces in buildings and architecture, cinematographic projectors, high-performance baffles and lenses, and scientific instruments.  Its ability to deceive the eye also opens up a range of design possibilities to enhance styling and appearance in luxury goods and jewellery [emphasis mine].

“The original Vantablack coating has had a big impact on the market, and is helping many companies to bring out higher-performing equipment,” says Ben Jensen of Surrey NanoSystems. “We are continuing to develop the technology, and the new sprayable version really does open up the possibility of applying super-black coatings in many more types of airborne or terrestrial applications. Possibilities include commercial products such as cameras, [emphasis mine] equipment requiring improved performance in a smaller form factor, as well as differentiating the look of products by means of the coating’s unique aesthetic appearance. It’s a major step forward compared with today’s commercial absorber coatings.”

Vantablack S-VIS is so effective that its performance far outstrips that of any other conventionally-applied coating, typically achieving a reflectance of less than 0.2%. Unlike other black absorbers, it offers this exceptional performance across a wide-range of viewing angles and wavelengths, which is critical for optical instruments, as well as in many aesthetic applications. It is, for example, some 17 times less reflective than the super-black paint used for minimizing stray light in the Hubble space telescope.

The active element of Vantablack S-VIS is a carbon nanotube matrix. The coating is applied using a proprietary process that includes a number of pre- and post-application steps to achieve its ultra-low reflectance.

Vantablack S-VIS can be applied to most stable surfaces, with the only major constraint being the ability to withstand temperatures of 100 degrees Centigrade, making Vantablack S-VIS suitable for many types of engineering-grade polymers and composite materials. The process is scalable and suitable for high-volume production on a range of substrate sizes.

The structured surface of Vantablack S-VIS means that it is not recommended for applications where it is subject to physical contact or abrasion. [emphasis mine] Ideally, it should be applied to surfaces that are protected, either within a packaged product, or behind a glass or other protective layer.

Coating with Vantablack S-VIS is offered as a service from Surrey NanoSystems’ processing centre in the UK. It is also available under license to companies wishing to integrate the coating into their production processes.

Presumably Surrey NanoSystems is looking at ways to make its Vantablack S-VIS capable of being used in products such as jewellery, cameras, and other consumers products where physical contact and abrasions are a strong possibility.

Helen Clark has written about Vantablack S-VIS in a March 9, 2016 article, which features an embedded video, for themarshalltown.com.

For the curious, here’s an image of the Vantablack coating,

Courtesy: Surrey NanoSystems

Courtesy: Surrey NanoSystems

Nanomaterial growth system sold to L’École Polytechnique et L’Universite de Montreal

NanoGrowth-Catalyst produced by Surrey Nanosystems has been sold to L’École Polytechnique de Montréal, the Université de Montréal, and the University of Surrey’s (England) Advanced Technology Institute. From the Jan. 10, 2011 news item on Azonano,

These leading research organisations have chosen the NanoGrowth-Catalyst as a platform for their work on materials including carbon nanotubes, silicon nanowires, graphene and nanoparticles for semiconductor, optical device and other applications. The growth system’s multi-chamber design ensures the purest nanomaterial processing conditions by continuously maintaining the substrate under vacuum, from the deposition of catalysts to growth of materials.

The Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) is a partner to Surrey NanoSystems and has already been using an earlier version of the NanoGrowth system for around four years to support its research into next-generation semiconductor and photonic device technologies. ATI is the first customer to receive the new NanoGrowth-Catalyst, and the system’s advanced processing resources are now starting to play a role in its work. Facilities including the rapid infrared heating process and a water-cooled chuck are helping ATI to grow ordered carbon nanotube (CNT) structures while maintaining the substrate below 350 degrees C. Low temperature processing is critical as CNTs are typically grown at around 700 degrees C – a level that is incompatible with CMOS semiconductor fabrication. This pioneering semiconductor-related work is currently the subject of a current ATI paper in the journal Carbon†.

“The top-down infrared heating technique provided by this tool allows us to localise energy delivery very accurately”, says Professor Ravi Silva, Head of the Nano-Electronics Centre at the Advanced Technology Institute. “The system provides unparalleled control of processing parameters, giving the required flexibility to support research into nanoelectronic materials – including carbon nanotubes, graphene and silicon nanowires – enabling us to overcome roadblocks to ongoing semiconductor development.”

“Some researchers are still relying on simple thermal furnaces to develop nanomaterials”, explains Ben Jensen of Surrey NanoSystems. “The NanoGrowth system’s comprehensive suite of deposition and processing capabilities, plus end-to-end processing in vacuum, gives both researchers and commercial developers precise and automated control over catalyst deposition and material growth, to explore nanomaterial capabilities and turn ideas into repeatable production processes.”

The folks in Montréal will have a special function added to their system (from the news item),

It will also incorporate a unique form of rapid thermal growth for nanomaterials developed to prevent the agglomeration of catalyst particles. The configuration of the tool was specified by Professor Patrick Desjardins, Director of the École Polytechnique’s Department of Engineering Physics.