An engineering research team at the University of California in San Diego has developed a nano-particle-based material for solar-concentrating plants that converts 90% of the captured sunlight to heat.

With particle sizes ranging from 10 nanometres to 10 micrometres, the multi-scale material traps and absorbs light more efficiently than current methods and at temperatures greater than 700°C.

Sungho Jin, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the university’s Jacobs School of Engineering, said: “We wanted to create a material that absorbs sunlight and doesn’t let any of it escape. We want the black hole of sunlight.”

Funding support for the project was provided by the US Energy Department’s SunShot initiative, which is designed to make solar energy competitive with other forms
of electricity by the end of the decade.