'Pure darkness': Japan-developed material absorbs 99.98% of visible light(Mainichi Japan)TSUKUBA, Ibaraki -- A "sheet of pure darkness" that absorbs at least 99.98% of visible light has been developed, and is claimed to be the blackest material that can withstand being touched, researchers here announced on Jan. 18.In 2019, a team of researchers from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and elsewhere created a black sheet that was able to absorb 99.65% of visible light using carbon black pigments.When the very fine-grained black resin from cashew oil -- often a substitute for lacquer -- was used, the material no longer appeared dull, and was now able to absorb at least 99.98% of visible light, improving upon the 2019 version.When shining a laser pointer at the 2019 material, its light remained visible, but the light disappears almost completely when targeting a sheet of the newer version.At the announcement, Kuniaki Amemiya, head of AIST's Applied Optical Measurement Group, said, "We exhausted every possible way to reduce (the light) reflectivity.""