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Cornell Engineers Create Ultrablack Fabric That Absorbs 99.87% of Light

08:15 AM, 12/05/2025
Cornell Engineers Create Ultrablack Fabric That Absorbs 99.87% of Light

Cornell researchers engineered a merino wool fabric coated with polydopamine and plasma-etched nanofibrils to create an ultrablack textile that absorbs 99.87% of incident light. Inspired by the riflebird's plumage, the material traps light between tiny fibrils and retains high absorption up to 60° viewing angles. The technique is described as relatively inexpensive and scalable, and the study appears in Nature Communications.

Cornell Engineers Produce Ultrablack Textile That Swallows Nearly All Light

Engineers at Cornell University have developed the darkest fabric on record for textiles, reporting that it absorbs 99.87% of visible light that strikes its surface. Rather than relying on dye alone, the team engineered the fabric's surface at the nanoscale so incoming light is trapped instead of reflected.

To create the material, researchers started with a white merino wool knit and coated it with a synthetic melanin-like polymer called polydopamine. They then placed the treated textile in a plasma chamber and etched the surface to form densely packed nanofibrils — tiny, hairlike structures that capture and trap light.

"The light basically bounces back and forth between the fibrils, instead of reflecting back out — that's what creates the ultrablack effect," said Hansadi Jayamaha, a fiber scientist and designer at Cornell.

The design was inspired by the riflebird (Ptiloris magnificus), a bird from New Guinea and northern Australia whose males display striking iridescent chests against near-black plumage. Unlike the bird's feathers, which appear blackest only when viewed head-on and can become reflective at oblique angles, the Cornell fabric maintains high light absorption when viewed up to 60 degrees off axis.

The research has already been translated into a wearable example: Cornell fashion design student Zoe Alvarez used progressively darkened swatches to create a dress in which the ultrablack textile frames a central blue-green accent that echoes the riflebird's plumage.

While the new textile is not the absolute darkest substance ever made — materials such as Vantablack and certain carbon-nanotube arrays have reported slightly higher absorption (about 99.96% and 99.995%, respectively) — those coatings can be costly or difficult to manufacture. The Cornell team emphasizes that their method is comparatively inexpensive and scalable, making ultrablack textiles more accessible for practical uses.

A paper detailing the fabrication process, optical measurements, and biological inspiration was published in Nature Communications.

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