This proprietary coating completely obscures an object's surface features, causing it to appear like a dark 2D void.

這種專有塗層可以完全遮蓋物體的表面特徵，使其看起來像一個黑暗的二維空洞。

But over the past decade, coatings have gotten even darker, and Vantablack is no longer the world's Blackest Black.

但在過去的十年中，塗料的顏色變得更深，Vantablack 不再是世界上最黑的黑色。

Scientists have unlocked new techniques for producing increasingly absorptive materials, mostly by accident.

科學家們已經掌握了生產吸收性越來越強的材料的新技術，而這主要是出於偶然。

And good news for goths everywhere, you might be able to buy some of this stuff yourself one day.

還有一個好消息要告訴各地的 "哥特 "們，說不定有一天你們也能買到這些東西。

INTRO

導言

In the search for Blackest Black, there are two things to consider.

在尋找 "最黑的黑 "的過程中，有兩件事需要考慮。

What do we mean by black, and how do we measure it?

什麼是 "黑"，如何衡量 "黑"？

Black is generally considered the absence of colored light.

黑色通常被認為是沒有色光的顏色。

Humans perceive color when our brains interpret signals from our eyes, where tiny receptors go ping when they're hit by light with the correct wavelengths.

當我們的大腦解讀來自眼睛的信號時，人類就能感知顏色。當眼睛中的微小感受器被正確波長的光線照射時，就會發出 "嗡嗡 "聲。

So if an object is neither emitting nor reflecting enough of that visible light, our receptors don't get triggered, and we perceive the thing as black.

是以，如果一個物體既沒有發出也沒有反射足夠的可見光，我們的感受器就不會被觸發，我們就會認為這個物體是黑色的。

But visible light isn't all there is.

但可見光並不是全部。

To an infrared camera, I am positively glowing right now.

在紅外線攝影機面前，我現在簡直是容光煥發。

So from a broader physics perspective, black is defined as the absence of reflection at any wavelength.

是以，從更廣泛的物理學角度來看，黑色的定義是在任何波長上都沒有反射。

And the lower a material's reflectance, the blacker it is.

材料的反射率越低，就越黑。

However, you can pick and choose how you measure that reflectance and get different results.

不過，您可以選擇測量反射率的方法，並得到不同的結果。

Because 1.

因為 1.

Even materials that look black aren't equally reflective, or should I say non-reflective, at every single wavelength.

即使是看起來是黑色的材料，在每個波長上的反射率也不盡相同，或者我應該說是非反射率。

And 2.

和 2.

Your material might be better or worse at reflecting a beam of light depending on the angle the light is hitting it.

根據光線照射的角度，材料對光束的反射效果可能會好一些，也可能會差一些。

So if you were gunning for our record for Blackest Black, you could go for the lowest reflectance that only appears at a specific angle and for a specific wavelength of light.

是以，如果你想打破我們的 "最黑 "記錄，你可以選擇最低反射率，這種反射率只出現在特定角度和特定波長的光線下。

But you'd probably have a beef with a research team that developed a material with a lower overall reflectance.

但你可能會對研發出整體反射率較低的材料的研究團隊有意見。

So scientists usually measure reflectance as the total light scattered in any direction.

是以，科學家通常用任何方向的散射光總量來測量反射率。

A reflectance of 100% means your material is the whitest white, and 0% is the blackest black.

反射率為 100% 表示材料最白，0% 表示材料最黑。

The terms aren't official, but super blacks tend to be materials with a reflectance of less than 0.5%, which is about 10 times less reflective than your blackest paints.

這個術語並不正式，但超級黑往往是指反射率低於 0.5% 的材料，這比最黑的油漆的反射率要低 10 倍左右。

Meanwhile, ultra blacks are less than 0.05%.

與此同時，極端黑人的比例不到 0.05%。

But what's happening to the 99.95%?

但那 99.95%的人呢？

Well, that light gets absorbed by the molecules in the material and converted into a different kind of energy.

那麼，光線會被材料中的分子吸收，並轉換成另一種能量。

And eventually, the molecules emit that energy as heat.

最終，分子會將這些能量轉化為熱量散發出去。

That's why dark colors feel so warm after spending time in direct light.

這就是為什麼深色在直射光下會感覺溫暖的原因。

All that absorption is why you've got everyone from astronomers to people trying to improve solar panel efficiency pursuing the blackest blacks.

是以，從天文學家到試圖提高太陽能電池板效率的人都在追求最黑的黑色。

If you can find something to paint the inside of your telescope, you can help wrangle any errant light rays from scattering around and messing up your astronomical observations.

如果你能找到一些東西來粉刷望遠鏡內部，就能幫助你控制任何不穩定的光線，防止它們四處散射，擾亂你的天文觀測。

Or if you find something that stops a solar cell bouncing a bunch of sunlight back into the atmosphere, you can maximize the amount of energy your solar panels can convert into electricity.

或者，如果你能找到某種東西阻止太陽能電池將大量陽光反射回大氣中，你就能最大限度地提高太陽能電池板轉化為電能的能量。

But before there were super black materials, there were normal black materials.

但在出現超級黑材料之前，還有普通黑材料。

Humans have used black pigments to create art for at least 12,000 years.

人類使用黑色顏料進行藝術創作至少已有 12000 年的歷史。

One example is charcoal, which is still popular in art classrooms across the world.

木炭就是一個例子，它在世界各地的美術課堂上仍然很受歡迎。

Charcoal is made through a process called carbonization, where organic material is burned using very little oxygen so that the big and complex carbon-based molecules break down and leave behind mostly pure carbon.

木炭是通過一種叫做碳化的過程製成的，在這個過程中，有機材料在燃燒時只使用極少量的氧氣，這樣大而複雜的碳基分子就會分解，留下的大部分是純碳。

The purer the carbon in your final product, the darker your charcoal is.

最終產品中碳的純度越高，木炭的顏色就越深。

That's because it's the carbon that's responsible for charcoal, as well as some other black pigments, being black.

這是因為木炭和其他一些黑色顏料之所以是黑色的，正是碳的作用。

Thanks to its atomic structure, carbon absorbs light across a wide range of wavelengths.

由於其原子結構，碳可以吸收各種波長的光。

So if you have a really pure charcoal sample, you can get a reflectance less than 10% across the visible light spectrum.

是以，如果你有一個真正純淨的木炭樣品，你可以在整個可見光光譜範圍內獲得小於 10% 的反射率。

But carbon isn't the only compound capable of absorbing light.

但碳並不是唯一能夠吸收光線的化合物。

Humans used other pigments in art, such as squid ink, and that mostly gets its color from complex molecules called melanin.

人類在藝術中還使用了其他顏料，例如烏賊墨水，其顏色主要來自於稱為黑色素的複雜分子。

You might remember that melanins are responsible for color pigmentation across the animal kingdom, including humans.

您可能還記得，黑色素是包括人類在內的整個動物界色素沉著的罪魁禍首。

Then, starting in the 19th century, chemists discovered they could design pigment molecules.

然後，從 19 世紀開始，化學家們發現他們可以設計顏料分子。

Colors like cadmium red, cobalt blue, and chromium green are named after the ingredients whose structure makes them reflect certain wavelengths of light.

鎘紅、鈷藍和鉻綠等顏色是根據其結構能反射特定波長光線的成分而命名的。

These discoveries eventually led to a black paint with reflectance of less than 3%.

這些發現最終造就了一種反射率低於 3% 的黑色塗料。

And if you're looking to create your own goth paradise, you can actually buy cans of the stuff.

如果你想打造自己的哥特天堂，其實還可以買到這種罐頭。

But for a while, that was the best we could do.

但有一段時間，我們只能做到這樣。

Pigments could only get so dark.

顏料只能變得這麼黑。

And to get even less reflective, we needed some help from physics.

為了減少反光，我們需要物理學的幫助。

Thank you for watching this SciShow video.

感謝您收看本期科學秀視頻。

SciShow has always needed people like you to support our work.

科學秀一直需要像您這樣的人來支持我們的工作。

If you like learning, getting curious about your world, and watching videos that are made by people and backed by science, well, you're in the right place.

如果你喜歡學習，對自己的世界充滿好奇，喜歡觀看由人制作並有科學依據的視頻，那你就來對地方了。

And together, we can fill the internet with stuff like that.

我們可以一起讓互聯網充滿這樣的內容。

From January 13th to February 3rd, we're running a fundraiser to keep SciShow going another year.

從 1 月 13 日到 2 月 3 日，我們將舉辦一次籌款活動，以使科學秀能夠繼續舉辦一年。

Go to Complexly.com slash postcard, or the links below, to support us and get your very own SciShow postcard, which will be signed by me and some of the other SciShow hosts.

請訪問 Complexly.com slash postcard 或下面的鏈接，支持我們並獲得屬於自己的 SciShow 明信片，我和其他一些 SciShow 主持人將在明信片上簽名。

It's not just an object's chemical makeup that dictates how much light it absorbs, and therefore how black it is.

決定物體吸收光的多少以及黑度的不僅僅是物體的化學構成。

Structure can, too.

結構也可以。

But for a long time, it was super tricky to create the super small structures you'd need to make blacks even blacker.

但在很長一段時間裡，要創建讓黑色更黑所需的超小型結構卻非常困難。

Then in 2002, a brand new record was set.

隨後在 2002 年，又創造了一個全新的紀錄。

A material that reflected less than 0.5% of visible light wavelengths.

可反射 0.5% 以下可見光波長的材料。

And researchers achieved this by chemically eroding the surface, creating microscopic, light-absorbing craters.

研究人員通過化學侵蝕表面，形成了微小的吸光隕石坑，從而實現了這一目標。

It was a huge leap in the search for the blackest black.

在尋找最黑的黑色的過程中，這是一次巨大的飛躍。

But unfortunately, the method didn't work very well at infrared wavelengths.

但遺憾的是，這種方法在紅外線波長下效果不佳。

And for many practical purposes, these light-absorbing materials should be great at that, too.

就許多實際用途而言，這些吸光材料在這方面也很出色。

Then in the 2010s, a brand new technique hit the scene, and it really seemed to knock all the previous records out of the park.

到了 2010 年代，一種全新的技術橫空出世，它似乎真的打破了之前所有的記錄。

Now a little warning here, the materials we're talking about from now on are so black that your screen can't even express how black they are, so you'll have to trust us a bit when we tell you that these materials are really stunningly black.

在這裡要提醒一下，我們現在談論的這些材料非常黑，你的螢幕甚至無法表達它們有多黑，所以當我們告訴你這些材料真的黑得驚人時，你必須相信我們一點。

Enter Vantablack, which claimed the world record for blackest black at the time.

Vantablack 的出現打破了當時最黑的世界紀錄。

Vanta is actually an acronym for Vertically Aligned Nanotube Array.

Vanta 實際上是垂直排列納米管陣列的首字母縮寫。

And by nanotube, they mean carbon nanotubes.

納米管指的是碳納米管。

Because VACDNA doesn't really roll off the tongue.

因為 "VACDNA "這個詞並不順口。

By the time Vantablack rolled around, academic labs and government research facilities like

當 Vantablack 出現時，學術實驗室和政府研究機構如

NASA had already been working on this kind of technology for a couple years.

幾年前，美國國家航空航天局（NASA）就已經在研究這種技術了。

Here's how it works.

具體操作如下

These super black coatings are created by growing forests of carbon nanotubes.

這些超級黑色塗層是通過生長碳納米管森林而形成的。

And carbon nanotubes are very appropriately named because they're nanoscale tubes of pure carbon.

納米碳管的名字非常貼切，因為它們是納米級的純碳管。

Each of these trees are millionths of a meter tall, and billionths of a meter wide.

每棵樹都只有百萬分之一米高，十億分之一米寬。

And together, a nanotube forest can trap light and bounce it around the trees until it's absorbed by the carbon atoms.

這樣，納米管森林就能捕捉光線，並使光線在樹木周圍反彈，直至被碳原子吸收。

In other words, carbon nanotube forests are a perfect combination of the carbon-based black pigments and the structure-based absorption properties that scientists could achieve through chemical etching.

換句話說，碳納米管林是碳基黑色顏料和基於結構的吸收特性的完美結合，科學家們可以通過化學蝕刻來實現這一點。

So super black Vanta coatings consistently reflect less than 0.5% of light across visible and infrared wavelengths.

是以，超黑 Vanta 塗層對可見光和紅外線波長的反射率始終低於 0.5%。

Before Vantablack came on the scene, several labs had demonstrated near-perfect absorption — less than 0.1% in the visible and near-infrared bands.

在 Vantablack 出現之前，一些實驗室已經證明了近乎完美的吸收率--在可見光和近紅外波段的吸收率低於 0.1%。

But in 2014, Vantablack coined the catchiest name and thereby got all the hype.

但在 2014 年，Vantablack 創造了一個最朗朗上口的名字，從而獲得了所有的炒作。

As for the world record, well, the company's research is closely guarded.

至於世界紀錄，該公司的研究是保密的。

The level of black was supposedly independently verified, but not publicly peer-reviewed.

據說黑色的程度是經過獨立驗證的，但沒有經過公開的同行評議。

If you go by those numbers, the original Vantablack had reflectances as low as 0.05%, at least for visible light.

如果按照這些數字計算，最初的 Vantablack 的反射率低至 0.05%，至少在可見光下是如此。

And the record-breaking contest has only accelerated since then.

從那時起，這場破紀錄的競賽就愈演愈烈。

In 2015, a team created a super-efficient light absorber by suspending some funny-shaped nanoscale gold particles in water.

2015 年，一個研究小組將一些形狀有趣的納米級金粒子懸浮在水中，創造出了一種超高效的光吸收器。

Using the same principle as the carbon nanotube forests, these gold particles use their shape to bounce light between one another until its energy is totally dissipated.

利用與碳納米管森林相同的原理，這些金粒子利用其形狀在光之間相互反射，直到光的能量完全消散。

When you look at the numbers, the reflectance isn't quite as impressive as Vantablack — less than 2% of light across both visible and infrared wavelengths.

從數字上看，其反射率並不像 Vantablack 那樣令人印象深刻--可見光和紅外線波長的反射率都不到 2%。

But the gold particles are more reliable across a range of wavelengths than Vantablack was.

但金顆粒在各種波長範圍內的可靠性都比 Vantablack 高。

And they require far less material than carbon nanotubes in order to absorb the same amount of light.

而且，要吸收相同數量的光，它們所需的材料遠遠少於碳納米管。

Together, that was good enough for the Guinness Book of World Records to dub these gold nanoparticles as the new Blackest Black.

金氏世界紀錄》將這些金納米粒子稱為新的 "最黑的黑"。

Then, in 2016, Vantablack beat the record with — wait for it — Vantablack 2!

然後，在 2016 年，Vantablack 又打破了這一紀錄--等著瞧吧--推出了 Vantablack 2！

With this new iteration, they clarified that across a broad spectrum of wavelengths, and viewed from all angles, Vantablack 2 always reflects less than 1% of light.

在新的版本中，他們明確指出，在廣泛的波長範圍內，從各個角度觀察，Vantablack 2 的反射率始終低於 1%。

But Vantablack isn't the current record-holder, and today's Blackest Black was discovered by accident.

但 Vantablack 並不是目前的記錄保持者，而今天的 "最黑黑色 "也是偶然發現的。

In 2019, researchers were trying to boost the electrical conductance of aluminum.

2019 年，研究人員試圖提高鋁的導電性。

And it turns out the ability to move electrons around is closely related to the ability to absorb light.

事實證明，電子的移動能力與光的吸收能力密切相關。

So the team wound up discovering a coding process that reflects less than 0.01% of visible and infrared light from all angles.

是以，研究小組最終發現了一種編碼工藝，它從各個角度反射的可見光和紅外線都小於 0.01%。

It even reflected less than 0.005% of certain wavelengths, making this new material not just super, but ultra black.

它對某些波長的反射率甚至低於 0.005%，是以這種新材料不僅是超級材料，而且是超黑材料。

The authors of this study think this could be due to a combination of factors, but mostly how they microscopically etched the surface of the aluminum before growing the nanotube forest on it.

這項研究的作者認為這可能是多種因素共同作用的結果，但最主要的是他們在鋁表面生長納米管林之前是如何對鋁表面進行顯微蝕刻的。

This new ultra black coating made a big statement when an artist collaborated with the researchers to cover a $2 million diamond.

當一位藝術家與研究人員合作，為一顆價值 200 萬美元的鑽石塗上這種新的超黑塗層時，這種塗層引起了轟動。

The piece was named The Redemption of Vanity and displayed at the New York Stock Exchange.

這幅作品被命名為《虛榮的救贖》，並在紐約證券交易所展出。

Now, so far, all these carbon nanotube-based coatings share a common weakness.

目前，所有這些基於碳納米管的塗層都有一個共同的弱點。

They might be shock and vibration resistant.

它們可能具有抗衝擊和抗震性。

That makes them suitable for use on, say, the inside of a telescope that has to get to space via rocket.

是以，它們適用於通過火箭進入太空的望遠鏡內部。

But those tiny little nanotubes are delicate and easily destroyed by touch.

但這些微小的納米管很脆弱，很容易被觸摸破壞。

And this is the real reason we can't deck ourselves out in Vantablack merch.

這就是我們不能把自己打扮成 Vantablack 商品的真正原因。

The carbon nanotube forests can only be grown on specific kinds of surfaces, and those tiny trees just aren't fit for everyday wear and tear.

碳納米管林只能在特定的表面生長，而這些小樹並不適合日常磨損。

But in 2023, a new record was set for an ultra black, touch-proof material.

但在 2023 年，超黑防觸電材料創下了新紀錄。

It boasts a reflectance of less than 0.02%.

它的反射率低於 0.02%。

The researchers managed this by making a surface with microcavities similar to the super black etching from 2002.

研究人員通過製作與 2002 年的超黑蝕刻類似的微腔表面來實現這一目標。

Then they cast a mold of the microcavities and stamped the mold onto a polymer sheet.

然後，他們澆鑄了一個微腔模具，並將模具衝壓在聚合物薄片上。

That polymer can maintain that stamped structure when you touch it, meaning ultra black materials might finally be making their way into commercial daily use.

這種聚合物可以在觸摸時保持印記結構，這意味著超黑材料最終可能會進入商業日常使用領域。

This is proof that carbon nanotubes don't have to be the future of really black materials.

這證明，碳納米管不一定是未來真正的黑色材料。

In fact, in 2024, researchers accidentally made a super black material out of wood.

事實上，在 2024 年，研究人員意外地用木材製成了一種超級黑色材料。

They were originally attempting to make wood more waterproof.

他們最初是想讓木材更加防水。

But they found that their plasma etching technique gave samples of basswood a light-absorbing texture reminiscent of the carbon nanotube forests.

但他們發現，他們的等離子蝕刻技術使椴木樣品產生了一種讓人聯想到碳納米管森林的吸光紋理。

They could also take advantage of lignins, the light-absorbing compounds naturally found in wood.

它們還可以利用木質素（木材中天然存在的吸光化合物）。

Altogether, their samples reflected about 0.7% of visible light.

他們的樣品總共反射了約 0.7% 的可見光。

And the plasma etched wood still looked black when the team coated it with gold to improve the material's electrical conductance.

當研究小組在等離子體蝕刻過的木材上鍍金以提高材料的導電性時，它看起來仍然是黑色的。

The team has dreams of deploying their super black wood to consumers, at least in the form of watches or jewelry.

該團隊夢想著向消費者提供超級黑木，至少是以手錶或珠寶的形式。

But there's another way scientists might gift us some of the blackest blacks possible, by turning to nature itself for inspiration.

不過，科學家們還可以通過另一種方式為我們帶來最黑的黑色，那就是向大自然本身尋求靈感。

That's right, researchers have been studying ultra black animals.

沒錯，研究人員一直在研究超黑動物。

As it turns out, some species of spiders, birds, and deep sea fish have evolved super light-absorbing coloring with reflectances as low as 0.05%.

事實證明，某些種類的蜘蛛、鳥類和深海魚類已經進化出了超級吸光色素，其反射率低至 0.05%。

And the exact technique varies from creature to creature, but generally their ultra black appearances are thanks to a mixture of melanin pigments and micro-scale structures.

具體的技術因生物而異，但一般來說，它們的超黑色外觀是由黑色素和微尺度結構混合而成的。

While humans have managed to create blacker blacks than anything we've found in the animal kingdom, 0.05% is right in line with the original vantablack.

雖然人類已經成功地創造出了比我們在動物王國中發現的任何東西都要黑的黑色，但 0.05% 的黑度與最初的萬特黑是一致的。

And nature managed to do that just with evolution, across many different biomes, and a lot earlier than our human-grown records were established.

而大自然僅僅通過進化就做到了這一點，而且跨越了許多不同的生物群落，比我們人類建立記錄的時間還要早得多。

I guess that gives scientists a lot to reflect on when it comes to making the blackest black.

我想，在製作最黑的黑色時，科學家們需要反思的東西還真不少。

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