--- title: "This Whiter-Than-White Paint Is Like the Opposite of Vantablack" description: "A team of scientists have created a white paint that's so white, it reflects 95.5 percent of sunlight that reaches its surface." date: "2020-10-23" modified: "2020-10-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/white-reflective-paint-opposite-vantablack" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "radiative cooling" - "the digest" - "vantablack" --- # This Whiter-Than-White Paint Is Like the Opposite of Vantablack ![A team of scientists have created a white paint that's so white, it reflects 95.5 percent of sunlight that reaches its surface.]() *\Image: Benjamin Moore\* ## So White A team of scientists [have created]() a white paint that's so white, they say, that it reflects 95.5 percent of sunlight that reaches its surface. Essentially, it's the exact opposite of [Vantablack](), the substance that makes objects appear so dark, by absorbing close to 100 percent of light that hits them, that it's as if you're [staring into a black hole](). The team is hoping their invention could allow buildings to passively reflect most sunlight, thereby "rejecting heat." In other words, it could allow us to keep interiors nice and cool without running energy-gobbling air conditioners. ## Way Cooler To create the paint, the team used calcium carbonate, an abundant resource, to minimize the amount of UV light being absorbed. During tests, the paint was able to keep surfaces 10 degrees Celsius below ambient at night and more than 1.7 degrees Celsius at noon. Best of all: it's outdoor proof and brushes on like conventional paint. "Our paint is compatible with the manufacturing process of commercial paint, and the cost may be comparable or even lower," Xiulin Ruan, a professor at Purdue University and co-author of [a study]() about the paint published in the journal *Cell Reports Physical Science* this week, said in [a statement](). ## Heat Islands Radiative heat effects are particularly pronounced during the summer seasons in larger cities, where built-up areas turn into "heat islands." "It is a persistent task to develop a below-ambient radiative cooling solution that offers a convenient single-layer particle-matrix paint form and high reliability," Ruan said. "This is critical to the wide application of radiative cooling and to alleviate the global warming effect," he added. It's not the first "heat rejecting paint" of its kind. Since the 1970s, scientists have been working on similar technologies as a way to passively cool surfaces, as [*Science Alert* reports](), with varying degrees of success. **READ MORE:** [You've Heard of Vantablack. Scientists Just Created 'Super White', And It's Very Cool]() \[*Science Alert*\] **More on Vantablack:** *[Scientists Discover “Vantablack” Deep-Sea Creatures]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()