AVAILABILITY EXPLAINER · ULTRA-BLACK
Vantablack: what it is, whether you can buy it, and the alternatives
Vantablack is a branded family of ultra-black surface technologies developed by Surrey NanoSystems, based on forests of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes that trap incident light. It is not a paint you buy in a tin, and it is not a generic term for any very black coating. For most professional projects the realistic route is a commercially available low-reflectance coating specified by a reflectance target.
TRADEMARK & AFFILIATION CLARIFICATION
Vantablack and Surrey NanoSystems are the property of their respective owner. BADAR Trading is not a distributor, is not affiliated with them, and does not supply Vantablack. This entry exists because the question is asked constantly and deserves an accurate answer.
How it works
Ordinary black paint absorbs most light but still returns a few percent, much of it specular — which is why a gloss black object still shows highlights that reveal its shape. Nanotube-based ultra-black works geometrically as well as chemically: light entering the forest of tubes bounces between them, losing energy at each encounter, and has almost no path back out.
That is also the commercial catch. The structure is grown onto a substrate under controlled conditions; it is a surface treatment applied to a part, not a liquid you spray on site. Where a sprayable variant exists in a branded range, it is a different material with different performance from the grown version, and the two should not be quoted interchangeably.
Schematic. Each interaction removes energy, so absorption rises steeply with the number of encounters a ray makes before it can leave.
Can you buy it?
The grown nanotube product is supplied by its owner into specific applications, typically as a treatment applied to a component rather than as material shipped to a buyer. Anyone advertising it as a general-purpose tin of paint is either selling something else, or not describing what they are selling accurately. Treat that as the useful test.
The owner states on its own site that the coating absorbs up to 99.965% of light and positions it for aerospace, automotive, optics and design applications; the name itself abbreviates “vertically aligned nanotube arrays”. Secondary sources — including an optical preprint measuring black materials in 2026 — describe it as applied by specialised vacuum deposition and not available for consumer use, and widely report that rights for artistic use are held exclusively by one artist. We repeat those as attributed statements, not as our own findings.
Commercially obtainable alternatives named across the same literature include Acktar Black for industrial and optical work, and Musou Black or the Black 3.0/4.0 family where a brush-applied finish is acceptable. Which of them suits a given project depends entirely on the reflectance target, the substrate and the environment.
| WHAT YOU MIGHT MEAN | WHAT IT ACTUALLY IS | CAN A BUYER OBTAIN IT? |
|---|---|---|
| “Vantablack” | Branded nanotube technology family | Through its owner, for qualifying applications — not via us |
| “The blackest paint” | Marketing shorthand covering several unrelated products | Depends entirely which one — ask for a reflectance figure |
| “Ultra-black coating” | Generic category: highly loaded, strongly matted blacks | Yes — sprayable and realistic for most projects |
| “Optical black” | Low-reflectance finish for instrument interiors and baffles | Yes — specify wavelength band and environment |
“Blackest” is not a specification
A single headline absorption figure tells a supplier almost nothing, because it says nothing about the wavelength band it was measured over, the angle, the test method, the substrate it was applied to, or whether the number describes total or specular reflectance. Two materials quoting similar figures can behave completely differently in an instrument, and the one with the better number is sometimes the one you cannot apply to your part.
What makes an enquiry answerable is the requirement, not the superlative. State a number. The reflectance figure you need, over the wavelength range you care about, plus the substrate, the geometry, the environment — vacuum, outgassing limits, temperature, cleaning — and the quantity. With those five items a supplier can answer in one exchange; without them the conversation loops.
WE QUOTE REFLECTANCE FIGURES FOR A NAMED PRODUCT ONLY FROM THE MANUFACTURER’S OWN DATA, WITH THE TEST CONTEXT THAT MAKES THEM MEANINGFUL.
References
- [1] MANUFACTURER TECHNICAL PUBLICATION — NANOTUBE ULTRA-BLACK TECHNOLOGY · citation being attached before publication
- [2] PEER-REVIEWED LITERATURE — TOTAL HEMISPHERICAL REFLECTANCE MEASUREMENT · citation being attached before publication
AWAITING NAMED AUTHORSHIP AND TECHNICAL REVIEW.
NOT YET PUBLISHED.
Need a surface that reads as absolute black?
Send the reflectance target, the substrate and the environment. We will tell you what is obtainable.