You might think you already know black – even super-black Vantablack, previously the blackest material known to science – but researchers just came up with a material that takes black to a new level of blackness.你有可能指出你早已告诉黑色，甚至是曾多次科学未知的最黑的材料——特黑的Vantablack，但研究人员刚刚明确提出了一种材料，它把黑度提升到了一个新的层次。The new, as-yet-unnamed ultra-black material is made from vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs), microscopic carbon strings that are a little like a fuzzy forest of tiny trees, according to the team behind the project.该项目团队回应，这种仍未命名的新型超黑材料是由横向排序的碳纳米管（CNTs）做成的，它是一种微型碳链，类似于茂密小树的毛茸茸的森林。And heres the rub – this CNT material can absorb more than 99.995 percent of incoming light, beating the 99.96 percent that Vantablack is able to absorb.但是，这种碳纳米管材料可以吸取99.995%以上的入射光线，多达了能能吸收99.96%入射光线的Vantablack材料。In other words, it reflected 10 times less light than all other superblack materials, including Vantablack, explains an MIT release.“换句话说，它光线的光比其他所有超黑材料（还包括Vantablack材料）较少10倍，”麻省理工学院在一份新闻稿中说明道。
Like some of the best scientific discoveries, this record-setting black stuff was discovered by accident.就像部分最佳科学找到一样，这种创纪录的黑色物质也是无意间找到的。The researchers were looking at ways to grow CNTs on electrically conductive materials like aluminium, and it was during these experiments that they noticed the blackness of the materials they were growing on specially treated aluminium foil.研究人员在找寻在导电材料（例如铝）上植入碳纳米管的方法，正是在这项实验中，他们注意到他们在类似处置的铝箔上植入的这种材料的黑度。I remember noticing how black it was before growing carbon nanotubes on it, and then after growth, it looked even darker, says mechanical engineer Kehang Cui, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. So I thought I should measure the optical reflectance of the sample.来自中国上海交通大学的机械工程师崔克航回应：“我忘记我留意过在植入碳纳米管之前它的黑度，而在植入之后，它看上去更加白了，所以我指出我应当测一下样品的光反射率。”Thats when the ultra-powerful light absorption properties were recorded – from every possible angle, the material soaked up virtually all the light directed at it.这种极强光吸收特性就是在这时被记录下来的——从每一个有可能的角度来看，这种材料完全都吸取了所有箭向它的光。
Whats not clear is why the material is like this. It might be the way that the etched aluminium, on which the oxide layer is removed, combines with the carbon nanotubes in some way, but more research is going to be needed to know for sure.这种材料为什么不会是这个样子目前还不确切。这有可能是去除水解层的转印铝与碳纳米管在或许上融合的方式，但这还必须展开更好的研究来证实。
本文来源：开云|kaiyun-www.zekeba.com
