Engineering flexible superblack materials
Abstract Flexible superblack materials are crucial for minimizing stray light, complicating object identification, and serving as low reflectance standards. However, the applications of existing superblack materials are limited due to challenges related to cost-effective scalable manufacturing, surf...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59876-y |
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| _version_ | 1850268686286323712 |
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| author | Yucheng Yang Botond Sánta Ashok Ponnuchamy Edward C. Kinzel Anthony J. Hoffman Matthew R. Rosenberger |
| author_facet | Yucheng Yang Botond Sánta Ashok Ponnuchamy Edward C. Kinzel Anthony J. Hoffman Matthew R. Rosenberger |
| author_sort | Yucheng Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Flexible superblack materials are crucial for minimizing stray light, complicating object identification, and serving as low reflectance standards. However, the applications of existing superblack materials are limited due to challenges related to cost-effective scalable manufacturing, surface durability, and material conformability. Furthermore, existing fabrication platforms struggle to tailor superblack materials to application-specific needs. This work introduces an engineering platform that combines silicon mold fabrication and polymer casting to produce flexible superblack materials. This platform achieves repeatable wafer-scale production of superblack materials with a minimum reflectance of 0.15% and less than 0.4% across the visible spectrum. The sample reflectance is weakly dependent on illumination angles from 0° to 50° and observer angles from 0° to 70° when the illumination angle is less than 20°. This Lambertian-like reflectance profile enables the material to effectively conceal three-dimensional features in digital images even under intense lighting conditions. This platform can engineer the material surface to withstand tweezer scratches without significantly compromising its reflectance properties. This work introduces an engineering platform for designing flexible superblack materials, addressing key challenges in scalability, surface durability, mechanical flexibility, and customization. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4eb96b27c9f34332af7d25e0f59e37a7 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-4eb96b27c9f34332af7d25e0f59e37a72025-08-20T01:53:23ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-0116111110.1038/s41467-025-59876-yEngineering flexible superblack materialsYucheng Yang0Botond Sánta1Ashok Ponnuchamy2Edward C. Kinzel3Anthony J. Hoffman4Matthew R. Rosenberger5Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre DameDepartment of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre DameDepartment of Electrical Engineering, University of Notre DameDepartment of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre DameDepartment of Electrical Engineering, University of Notre DameDepartment of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre DameAbstract Flexible superblack materials are crucial for minimizing stray light, complicating object identification, and serving as low reflectance standards. However, the applications of existing superblack materials are limited due to challenges related to cost-effective scalable manufacturing, surface durability, and material conformability. Furthermore, existing fabrication platforms struggle to tailor superblack materials to application-specific needs. This work introduces an engineering platform that combines silicon mold fabrication and polymer casting to produce flexible superblack materials. This platform achieves repeatable wafer-scale production of superblack materials with a minimum reflectance of 0.15% and less than 0.4% across the visible spectrum. The sample reflectance is weakly dependent on illumination angles from 0° to 50° and observer angles from 0° to 70° when the illumination angle is less than 20°. This Lambertian-like reflectance profile enables the material to effectively conceal three-dimensional features in digital images even under intense lighting conditions. This platform can engineer the material surface to withstand tweezer scratches without significantly compromising its reflectance properties. This work introduces an engineering platform for designing flexible superblack materials, addressing key challenges in scalability, surface durability, mechanical flexibility, and customization.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59876-y |
| spellingShingle | Yucheng Yang Botond Sánta Ashok Ponnuchamy Edward C. Kinzel Anthony J. Hoffman Matthew R. Rosenberger Engineering flexible superblack materials Nature Communications |
| title | Engineering flexible superblack materials |
| title_full | Engineering flexible superblack materials |
| title_fullStr | Engineering flexible superblack materials |
| title_full_unstemmed | Engineering flexible superblack materials |
| title_short | Engineering flexible superblack materials |
| title_sort | engineering flexible superblack materials |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59876-y |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yuchengyang engineeringflexiblesuperblackmaterials AT botondsanta engineeringflexiblesuperblackmaterials AT ashokponnuchamy engineeringflexiblesuperblackmaterials AT edwardckinzel engineeringflexiblesuperblackmaterials AT anthonyjhoffman engineeringflexiblesuperblackmaterials AT matthewrrosenberger engineeringflexiblesuperblackmaterials |