Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Q:- I am building a project related to solar energy , and m looking for a material which absorbs light of every wavelength , in short I want to a material which can completly convert every wavelength emitted by sunlight to heat, I searched for "darkest material" on Internet but I doubt that it only absorb visible spectrum of light not Infra red or microwave.
So my question is can black color absorb every wavelength light and turn it into heat , if No, the. What will ?

Hi,

Sounds like a good question that would make for an interesting experiment with your project. Black objects absorb all wavelengths of visible light. They may or may not absorb infrared or microwave. However, there are no known objects that absorb all possible wavelengths of light.

If you are interested in solar power, you may be most interested in wavelengths of light emitted by the sun, which mostly emits infrared, visible, and UV light. If you are interested in solar-powered electricity, you may want to look for materials that can convert light to electricity (instead of heat).

Best,
Charles