Ender100@aol.com
Date: 02/16/03-03:58:24 PM Z
... researchers at Great Britain's National Physics Lab announced they've
developed .., "a low-reflectance ultra-black
coating" that absorbs more light, apparently, than any other black on
Earth...Richard Brown and his colleagues at
NPL made an intriguing discovery: When a nickel coating contains between 5
and 7% phosphorus, an electron
microscope of its surface reveals inumerable tiny craters. Such a
sub-microscopically pocked surface, it seems,
reflects less light than do infinitesimally flatter or spikier surfaces.
Indeed, the coating dubbed "NPL Super Black"
can absorb up to 99.7 % of the visible light that strikes it, boasts Brown.
(By contrast, most black paints absorb a
mere 97.5% of visible light.)... Several artists have already expressed
interest in using the (prohibitively expensive)
new material, because "it's an incredibly beautiful surface. It's like black
Velvet."
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