Viper's light-absorbing black scales are a wonder of nature's nanotechnology
The West African Gaboon viper, one of the largest in Africa and a master of camouflage, has dark spots in the pattern of its skin that are deep, velvety black and reflect very little light.
Scientists have identified nanostructures in the ultra-black skin markings of an African viper which they say could inspire the quest to create the ultimate light-absorbing material.
The West African Gaboon viper, one of the largest in Africa and a master of camouflage, has dark spots in the pattern of its skin that are deep, velvety black and reflect very little light.
Interwoven with white- and brown-coloured scales that are very reflective, this creates a high contrast that renders the snake difficult to spot on the richly patterned rainforest floor.
A team of German scientists set out to find the secret behind the black spots' ultra darkness, and found that the scale surface was made up of tightly packed, leaf-like microstructures covered in turn with nanometre-sized ridges. One nanometre is equivalent to a billionth of a metre.
Writing in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, the team theorised that the micro- and nanostructures, which protrude at slightly different angles, scatter and trap incoming light.
"The structure based velvet black effect could also be potentially transferred to other materials," the scientists wrote.